DE PERE, WIS. — With another Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) game on the docket, the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) softball team took a trip to St. Norbert College (SNC) to play the Green Knights. Two games in the cold weather ended in a split with a 1-0 loss and 8-7 win.
Game One: 1-0 L
Inside the Box Score:
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Emily Garcia (Eastvale, Calif.) led all day offensively, going three-for-four in game one
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Melisa Hadzic (Westchester, Ill.) had a good first game against the Green Knights, going two-for-three with a double
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Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.) threw a complete game, with six innings pitched with only five hits given up and a strikeout
How It Happened:
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The Cougars would get on base to start the game with a Garcia single, but she would be left stranded.
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Hadzic would then pick up a double in the second, but again was left on base.
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In the bottom of the third, the Green Knights would get on with a single, and would come around to score due to a throwing error 1-0.
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In the top of the fifth, Garcia would single and Haley Gulsby (Englewood, Fla.) drew a walk to get on base. But the Cougars were not able to hit them in to score.
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Hadzic got herself on base in the sixth, followed by a Jessica Geng (Phoenix, Ariz.) double to move into scoring position. But CUC was unable to scoot a run across the plate.
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Shroll stayed dominant in the circle, as she got SNC to ground into a double play to end the sixth.
Game Two: 8-7 W
Inside the Box Score:
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Six Cougars picked up a multi-hit outing in game two: Garcia, Gulsby, Hadzic, Arissa Santos (Moreno Valley, Calif.), Annabella Archuletta (Pueblo, Colo.), and McKyler Morris (Belvidere, Ill.)
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Both Garcia and Geng would pick up triples on the afternoon, the latter doing so to take the lead in the seventh
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Eden Pufahl (Laguna Hills, Calif.) picked up her first win of the season, going five innings in the circle with six hits given up and two strikeouts
How It Happened:
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CUC jumped out to a quick lead, as they scored three quick runs to start the first. Garcia and Gulsby would get on base, before Hadzic and Geng would hit them in 2-0. Santos then got on base and Alyssa Kontopoulos (Elmhurst, Ill.) hit her in to make it 3-0.
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SNC would get a run back, but Pufahl would get them to fly out and make it a 3-1 ball game.
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Olivia Stroker (St. Louis, Mo.) got on base with a walk and Hadzic hit her in to make it 4-1 with a Cougar lead.
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It would not be until the bottom of the third when SNC would score another run, cutting the Cougar lead in half 4-2.
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This would be a stalemate for these two opponents, as they traded off back and forth in a pitching duel.
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However, the bottom of the fifth would prove costly for the Cougars, as the Green Knights scored five runs to make the game 7-4.
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Knowing their time was limited, Morris would single and then get from first to third on a pass ball to give CUC some momentum.
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Morris scored on a baseball, making it 7-5, before Gulsby and Hadzic would get on to set up Geng. Geng then smacked a triple, tying the game up with her two RBIs 7-7.
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She then was able to race in off of a pass ball and take the lead back for CUC 8-7.
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Pufahl would reenter the game, making a commanding presence on the mound and shutting down SNC once and for all. The Cougars would win this one over the Green Knights 8-7.
The Cougars will head off campus again on Monday for the Division Street Rivalry against #22 Dominican University at 4 and 6 p.m. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
