LEESBURG, FL. — Wrapping up their stay in Florida, Concordia University Chicago (CUC) softball (4-4, 0-0) took on Bluffton University (1-9, 0-0) and Rivier University (5-3, 0-0) in a doubleheader Friday afternoon. After dropping the Bluffton game, 7-6, the Cougars ended the trip on a high note with a 7-5 victory over Rivier.
GAME ONE: Bluffton - 7, Concordia Chicago - 6
-Inside The Box Score
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Three Cougars ended with two RBIs: Emily Garcia (Eastvale, Calif.), Melisa Hadzic (Westchester, Ill.), and Emma Borrelli (Arlington Heights, Ill.).
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Borrelli was also excellent pitching in relief, allowing just one run over three innings of work.
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Julia Pataluna (Commerce City, Colo.), Jessica Geng (Phoenix, Ariz.), and McKyler Morris (Bevidere, Ill.) all picked up hits as well.
-How It Happened
Bluffton jumped on top in the first inning when they scored two unearned runs off a throwing error. They added another run the following inning thanks to a sacrifice fly, and their lead grew to 4-0 in the top of the third off an RBI single.
Kallie Tierney (Corona, Calif.) came in to relieve CUC starter Eden Pufahl (Laguna Hills, Calif.) in the fourth and held Bluffton scoreless for the first time that game. This was all Concordia's offense needed to spark their offense.
With two runners in scoring position in the bottom of the fourth, Hadzic tripled to right to bring home two runs and cut the deficit to 4-2. However, that was all the offense CUC got that inning, and Bluffton added another two runs in the fifth to up their lead up to 6-2.
Another Bluffton run came in the top of the sixth to make it 7-2, but the Cougars were not ready to call it quits just yet. With the bags loaded, Borrelli doubled to tack two more CUC runs onto the board, making it 7-4.
The Concordia comeback was not done just yet. With the bases full once again, Garcia singled to center field to get another pair of runs back, making it 7-6 as the dueling teams headed to the final inning of play.
Following a one-two-three inning from Bluffton, CUC entered the bottom of the seventh still trailing by just one. However, Bluffton's pitcher sent the Cougars down in order and clinched the 7-6 win for her squad.
GAME TWO: Concordia Chicago - 7, Rivier -5
-Inside The Box Score
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Hadzic added another two RBIs to her day's total in game two.
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Morris and Arissa Santos (Moreno Valley, Calif.) also knocked in a pair of runs each. Morris had two triples as well.
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Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.) earned the save with her 5.1 innings of relief pitching. She allowed no earned runs and even added an RBI at the plate.
-How It Happened
This game, it was CUC who jumped out to an early lead. With runners on first and second, Santos knocked a double to right field to give her team a 2-0 lead in the first inning.
Concordia got another two runs in the second inning. With runners at every base, Hadzic drove in two of them with a single, making it 4-0. Rivier did drastically cut that lead down in the bottom half of the inning, scoring three runs off an error, ground out, and single.
After a scoreless third and top of the fourth, Rivier knotted the game up in the bottom of the fourth. Three straight CUC errors loaded the bases before a single advanced all runners and made it 4-4. Luckily for Concordia, Shroll kept the damage to just one run.
The Cougars got the lead right back in the next half inning when Morris tripled to score Santos all the way from first, putting CUC back in front 5-4.
With the score still 5-4 in the bottom of the sixth, another Cougar error put a runner on the basepath who later scored off a double to tie the game at 5-5.
But Morris struck again in the top of the seventh with another RBI triple to give CUC the lead once again. Now on third, Morris soon crossed home thanks to Shroll's RBI single, giving herself an insurance run heading into the final half inning.
A quick one-two-three sealed the deal for CUC, who came away with the 7-5 win to end the Florida Trip.
-Up Next
Softball will now get some much needed time off. Their next game is not until March 18 when they travel to North Park University for a two game set at 3 p.m. and 5 p.m. Coverage for those games as well as everything CUC softball related can be found at cucougars.com.
