WINTER HAVEN, FLA. — The final day of the Rebel Spring Games came with a lot of success for the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) softball team. In their last two games of the trip, they split in two tough battles. Against SUNY New Paltz, they fell 5-1, then later in the afternoon they dominated over Geneva College (PA.) 13-3.
Game One vs. SUNY New Paltz
Inside the Box Score:
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Jessica Geng (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the offense by going 2-for-3 with one run scored
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The lone RBI of the game went to Gina Westphal (Elmhurst, Ill.) after a stand-up double
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Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.) and Kallie Tierney (Corona, Calif.) combined pitching time for the game
The action would not start in this game until the second inning, where New Paltz went up 3-0. With a back-to-back triple and then a single, the momentum was on the Hawks side. The two teams were then stuck in a battle for the next handful of innings. That was when the Hawks took advantage of some opportunities and went up 5-0.
In the bottom of the fifth, Geng would single through the right side, but would be left on the bases. The Cougars would not find themselves within a true scoring opportunity until the bottom of the seventh on the very last play. Geng would get on base with a single up the middle and advanced to second off of an Alexis Hilgert (Naperville, Ill.) single. Then, Westphal would double to left field to allow Geng to score and finish off the game with a 5-1 loss to the Hawks.
Game Two vs. Geneva College (PA.)
Inside the Box Score:
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Nikita Robbins (Lafayette, Ind.) led the offense in game two going 3-for-5 with a season-high four RBIs and three doubles
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Also securing offense was Arissa Santos (Moreno Valley, Calif.) going 2-for-2 and Haley Gulsby (Englewood, Fla.) going 2-for-3
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Shroll picked up the win in the circle with 4 innings pitched, three strikeouts, and zero earned runs
The Golden Tornadoes were first to jump on the board as they went up 2-0. In the top of the second, the Cougars immediately responded. Hailey Howard (Machesney Park, Ill.) had gotten a walk and Santos singled up the middle to set up for a scoring opportunity. Melisa Hadzic (Westchester, Ill.) grounded out, but not before Howard crossed the plate to go up 2-1. Right after, Gulsby had a sacrifice bunt that scored Santos to tie it up 2-2.
Moving into the bottom of the second, the Golden Tornadoes responded with another run that brought them ahead 3-2. The score would stay the same until the top of the fourth and Shroll entered the game. She quickly got ahead of the Geneva hitters and brought up the Cougar batters. A Howard single and Santos double set the table for Hadzic to score another two run, taking the lead 4-3. Robbins then hit a double to left field to score Westphal and Hadzic, the Cougars then led 6-3.
This score would remain unchanged as Shroll settled on the mound and made quick action of more Geneva hitters. In the top of the sixth, the Cougars busted open the flood gates. Back-to-back doubles from Becky Pieroni (Montgomery, Ill.) and Robbins would bring the Cougar lead up to 8-3. Annabella Archuletta (Pueblo, Colo.) then singled through the right side and made it all the way around to score on a wild pitch, bringing the score to 9-3.
To finish off the game, Robbins hit another double and Archuletta singled through the left side to bring the final score to 13-3. Shroll finished off the game with a swinging strikeout to secure the Cougar win with a score of 13-3.
The Cougars will be flying back to Chicago this weekend to return to non-conference and conference play. This will start on March 20th as they host Wheaton College for their home opener at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
