ROSEMONT, ILL. — Opening day is here for the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) softball team and the excitement was a buzz at the Ballpark in Rosemont. The Cougars took on a non-conference opponent in Lake Forest College. The Cougars won their first match-up of the season with a score of 6-5.
Inside The Box Score:
-
Becky Pieroni (Montgomery, Ill.) went 2-for-2 on the day with two doubles, three runs, a walk, and a stolen base
-
Following right behind her was Annabella Archuletta (Pueblo, Colo.) and Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.), both going 2-for-3 on the day.
-
Earning her first collegiate win in the circle was Emma Borrelli (Arlington Heights, Ill.) with one inning pitched and earning a strikeout. Shroll was credited with the save while pitching three innings with three strikeouts.
The game began with an electric start as the Foresters quickly went up 2-0 in the first inning. This was courtesy of a Lake Forest double, and then a single, before the Cougars got out of the jam. With the bat in their hands, Archuletta hit a double through the left side to plate Hailey Howard (Machesney Park, Ill.) and score the first run of the 2023 season. Jessica Geng (Phoenix, Ariz.) then flew out to the right side to promptly score Pieroni and tie the game up 2-2 going into the second.
The Foresters would not take long to strike back as they scored three runs in the second off of an error and two timely hits. Moving into the bottom of the second, the Cougars trailed 5-2 to the Foresters. Freshman Arissa Santos (Moreno Valley, Calif.) took a big time at bat to score herself a double and an RBI as Pieroni crossed the plate. In the fourth, Alyssa Kontopoulos (Elmhurst, Ill.) would then single to left to allow Shroll to score and have the Cougars trailing 5-4.
In the top of the fifth, Pieroni used her speed to score on a ground out, this would ultimately tie up the game at 5-5. Finally, Howard found some room to allow Nikita Robbins (Lafayette, Ind.) to score in the bottom of the sixth and take the lead 6-5. This would end up being the final result as the Cougars took their first win of the season over the Foresters 6-5.
The Cougars will be heading to the Sunshine State next week as they head to Florida to compete in the Rebel Spring Games. They will be competing with teams all over the country from March 5th-10th. Their first game will be on Sunday, March 5th against Muskingum at 9:00 a.m. and then against Simmons right after at 11:30 a.m. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
