Lake Forest, Ill. - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars softball team hit the road for one final non-conference game of the season where they took on the Foresters of Lake Forest College. Game one consisted of the Cougars struggling to get much offense going resulting in falling in game one, 11-3. Due to lack of sunlight left in the day, game two was finished as a tie at 7 apiece.
Game One
Inside the Box Score:
- Mayah Larenas (Chino, Calif.) and Alyssa Campos (Eastvale, Calif.) both went two for three, and Larenas added an RBI in game one.
- Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.) pitched 1.1 innings with two strikeouts on 12 batters faced.
Here's What Happened:
- At the bottom of the first, Emily Garcia (Eastvale, Calif.) walked, placing her on first but from a fielder's choice, was out a second and put Arissa Santos (Moreno Valley, Calif.) on first. Both Jessica Geng (Phoenix, Ariz.) and Larenas walked, loading the bases with two outs. Unfortunately, the Foresters grabbed a third out without allowing any Cougars to come home.
- The bottom of the inning, the Foresters had a lead off single, followed by a pair of walks, which loaded the bases. Then, the Foresters hit a grand slam homerun, allowing them to take an early 4-0 lead.
- Julia Pataluna (Commerce City, Colo.) was walked at the top of the second, placing her on first, but the following three Cougars struck out or flew out leaving her stranded on base, and headed into the bottom of the second.
- Shroll kicked off the bottom of the second striking out the Foresters' lead off batter.
- The Foresters then had a batter single and then stole second. Next, a triple to left center brought in another run for the Foresters, and had a runner in scoring position. The score was 5-0, with just one out in the inning. Forester's offense continued to charge forward as they were able to bring in three more runs, making the score 8-0 before heading into the third inning.
- At the top of the third, Santos was hit by a pitch, placing her on first, but the Cougars were quickly operating on two outs. Larenas showed she was unphased and a huge swing brought home Santos, putting the first run on the board for the Cougars. Heading into the bottom half of the inning, the Cougars trailed, 8-1.
- The Foresters hit their second home run in the bottom of the inning, but no one else was on base so the lead only increased to 9-1 and this was the lone run of the inning.
- The Cougar offense came alive in the fourth inning. Pataluna singled to left field and then advanced to second. This was followed by a single by Kallie Tierney (Corona, Calif.) to center field, which allowed Pataluna to get home, making the score 9-2.
- Garcia and Santos both singled to center field, loading the bases for Geng. She had a fly out to right field, which turned out to be a sacrifice fly, bringing home Tierney. Heading into the fifth inning, the score was 9-3.
- The Cougars shut out the Forester offense keeping the score at 9-3 heading into the top of the fifth.
- With the Cougars in a bases loaded situation, a double by Larenas, single by Campos, and Emily Lucero (Chino, Calif.) was walked, but the Foresters were able to lock down and get three outs without allowing a Cougar to get home.
- At the bottom of the fifth, the Cougars also held the Foresters, keeping the score at 9-3.
- The Cougars were unable to put up any runs in the sixth, and the Foresters put up two more, making the score 11-3. With this, the Foresters would finalize the game due to a run rule.
The two teams would take a short break before heading into game two.
Game Two
Inside the Box Score:
- Garcia went a perfect three for three in game two, adding two RBIs and a run.
- Geng and Morris each went two for four, where the both brought in a run.
- Alyssa Lopez (Corona, Calif.) pitched two innings where she had two strikeouts on 11 batters faced
Here's What Happened:
- Neither team scored, and struggled to get a hit in both the first and second innings.
- At the top of the third, Jolene Anderson (Romeoville, Ill.) reached first on a Forester error, then was able to advance to second.
- Garcia singled and brought home Anderson, scoring the lone run of the inning for the Cougars. Heading into the bottom of the inning, the Cougars led 1-0.
- In the bottom of the inning, the Foresters took no time to match the Cougars with a run of their own to tie the game heading into the fourth inning.
- Opening the fourth inning, Melisa Hadzic (Westchester, Ill.) walked and then stole second to place herself into scoring position. Geng singled up the middle, allowing Hadzic to advance to third. A single by Larenas brought home Hadzic to finish off the scoring in the inning. The Cougars regained the lead at 2-1.
- The Cougars continued their scoring into the top of the fifth with a lead off single by Lucero. Garcia doubled to left center, and Lucero advanced to third. Off of an error by the Foresters, Lucero was able to run home, continuing to increase the Cougar lead to 3-1.
- With Garcia on second, a Katelyn Smith double brought home Garcia, making the score now 4-1 to round out the scoring in the inning.
- The Cougars shutout the Foresters once again at the bottom of the inning and brought themselves back up to bat.
- At the top of the sixth, McKyler Morris (Belvidere, Ill.) and Anderson both singled consecutively, putting runners on first and second. Garcia singled up the middle to bring home Morris and advanced Anderson to second. The score was now 5-1, favoring the Cougars.
- Smith was then hit by a pitch, which loaded the bases up, but the Cougars were operating on two outs. Santos reached first on a fielder's choice and all Cougar runners advanced one base, bringing home Anderson for the final run of the inning. The Cougars led 6-1.
- Unfortunately, at the bottom of the sixth, the Foresters' offense erupted where they scored six runs, and took the lead 7-6.
- Geng had a lead off double to left center, to quickly put herself into scoring position at the top of the seventh. Bringing Geng home was Morris with a double to center field. The Cougars tied the game back at 7 apiece, forcing the bottom of the seventh.
- The Cougars' defense held the Foresters scoreless and forced extra innings.
Due to lack of sunlight left in the day, the game was finished as a tie at 7 apiece.
What's Next
The Cougars will have a day off to celebrate their athletic accomplishments at the annual CUC sports banquet before returning to conference play against Wisconsin Lutheran back at home on Saturday, April 26th, with 12:00 pm and 2:00 pm respective start times. As always, coverage for all things CUC softball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
