RIVER FOREST, ILL. --- Another day in River Forest means another battle for the Concordia University Chicago (CUC) softball team. They would take on the Benedictine University (BU) Eagles in a doubleheader with huge conference contentions on the line. These two opponents would split, with the Cougars losing game one 10-5 and winning game two 5-1.

Game One: 10-5 L
Inside the Box Score:

• Game one would be led offensively by Emily Garcia (Eastvale, Calif.), who went two-for-four with an RBI and a stolen base
• Both Melisa Hadzic (Westchester, Ill.) and Arissa Santos (Moreno Valley, Calif.) would notch doubles in Cougar Field
• Megan Bouska (Plainfield, Ill.) pitched a leading three innings in this game, with only four hits allowed

How It Happened:

• Benedictine would start off the scoring early, having a double and a single to score the first run 1-0. This continued in the second when two Eagles walked, one was hit by a pitch, and a double would score two more runs 3-0.
• Bouska would enter the game for Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.), then the Eagles would tack on another run 4-0.
• The Cougars would look to get their offense going, with Garcia and Jessica Geng (Phoenix, Ariz.) both picking up hits, but no runs would cross yet for CUC.
• With Benedictine taking the score to 6-0, CUC would begin to respond. Santos and Haley Gulsby (Englewood, Fla.) would get on for Garcia to hit a run in 6-1. Santos would then score on a pass ball to make it 6-2.
• However, the Eagles would go on a rally in the sixth, making the score 10-2.
• Both Annabella Archuletta (Pueblo, Colo.) and Eden Pufahl (Laguna Hills, Calif.) would be hit by pitches, before Gina Westphal (Elmhurst, Ill.) smacked a single to make the score 10-3.
• In the bottom of the seventh, the Cougars were able to continue this offense. Hadzic would hit a double to switch places with Santos, making it 10-4. Then, Archuletta would single to right to score Hadzic 10-5. Unfortunately, this would be the final score, with the Cougars losing game one 10-5.

Game Two: 5-1 W
Inside the Box Score:

• McKyler Morris (Belvidere, Ill.) would have a lights out day at the plate, going two-for-three with a three-run homerun
• Shroll would go the complete game for the win, pitching seven innings with five hits allowed and five strikeouts

How It Happened:

• This would be a pitcher's duel in game two, as only Hadzic and Westphal would single in the first two innings of play 0-0.
• In the third, Benedictine would score off of a bases-loaded walk to make it 1-0.
• Olivia Stroker (St. Louis, Mo.) got it started for the Cougars, picking up a single, followed by Garcia. Archuletta would then single herself to tie the game up 1-1. Morris would sail a ball over the center field fence, making the game a 4-1 lead for the Cougars.
• In the fourth, Shroll snagged two strikeouts to get CUC out of the inning. This set up the next inning, where Stroker would get a ball in play to score Bouska 5-1.
• The fifth inning would have the bases juiced for Benedictine, but Shroll would induce an up the middle play between Santos and Garcia to end the inning.
• After this, Shroll was able to roll through the next handful of innings, shutting down the Eagles and securing the win. The Cougars won this game with a final score of 5-1.

The Cougars will be facing off against the #19 Dominican University Stars on Tuesday at 5 and 7 p.m. Coverage for all of our sports can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.