WAUWATOSA, WIS. — With the Easter holiday gone and passed, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) softball team traveled up north for some conference action. Taking on the Wisconsin Lutheran College (WLC) Warriors, they split with a win of 6-4 in game one and a loss of 11-1 (5 innings) in game two.
Game One
Inside The Box Score:
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Picking up her second win of the season was Jaidyn Harris (Jurupa Valley, Calif.), who pitched 5 innings with five hits allowed and only two earned runs. Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.) secured her second save with two innings pitched and six strikeouts recorded
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Gina Westphal (Elmhurst, Ill.) went 2-for-3 with two doubles, one RBI, and one run
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Hailey Howard (Machesney Park, Ill.) also went 2-for-3 with one RBI and one run
The Cougars struck first in the beginning of the game as Becky Pieroni (Montgomery, Ill.) started off with a single to left field. A couple of Cougar hits would move Pieroni around to third and Howard would single to center field to score Pieroni 1-0. Three straight pop ups in the bottom of the first would keep the Warriors off the bases. In the second inning, CUC would really bust open the score. Westphal would get her first double of the day and score Haley Gulsby (Englewood, Fla.) to go up 2-0.
Nikita Robbins (Lafayette, Ind.) would then score Alyssa Kontopoulos (Elmhurst, Ill.) and Melisa Hadzic (Westchester, Ill.) singled to right to score Westphal 4-0. Continuing the rally, Arissa Santos (Moreno Valley, Calif.) singled through the left side and scored Hadzic 5-0. Howard would then score on a wild pitch and the Cougars brought their lead up to 6-0.
WLC would respond to this by scoring their first of the game off of a single to left 6-1. In the top of the third, the bases would be filled with Cougars, but there would not be an opportunity to score. The two opponents would stay locked in heated battle until the bottom of the fifth where the Warriors continued to chip away. They scored off of a single and by taking advantage of CUC mistakes, cutting the lead in half 6-3. In the bottom of the sixth, one more Warrior would cross the plate, but that would be it with the score finishing at 6-4. The Cougars would then take game one with a score of 6-4.
Game Two
Inside The Box Score:
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Each of these Cougars picked up hits: Howard, Westphal, and Alexis Hilgert (Naperville, Ill.)
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Hilgert would be the solo run of the game
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All four pitchers on staff would make appearances in this game
In game two, the Cougars would find themselves on the base paths, but unfortunately would be hit into a double play to stop their advances. The Warriors would also not be able to capitalize off of their hits and the game stayed scoreless at 0-0. WLC found themselves on the board after a single and a run scored at 1-0. However, in the top of the third, CUC would respond with a Pieroni sacrifice fly to score Hilgert and tie the game at 1-1.
The bottom of the third brought Emma Borrelli (Arlington Heights, Ill.) to the circle for the Cougars. The Warriors would score one run off of the freshman 2-1 before Harris came back in. After this, WLC went on a string of hits to pull away to a lead of 7-1. Coming to the top of the fourth, Howard would single to second base, but would be left on the bases as CUC could not make it across the plate.
In the bottom of the fourth, WLC would tack on even more as they ran away to 11-1. In a last ditch effort, Westphal would single up the middle to try and start a rally, but it was too late for the Cougars. They fell in game two with a score of 11-1 to the Warriors.
The Cougars will be on the road again on Wednesday as they play a single game against Lake Forest College at 5 p.m. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
