MONTGOMERY, Ill. – On a sunny afternoon, the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament got underway. With today's games being single elimination, it was a do or die situation for No. 4 Concordia University Chicago (CUC) softball as they faced No. 5 Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE). Despite their best efforts, going all the way to end, the Cougars suffered heartbreak, falling 6-4, and closed out their tremendous season.
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Inside the Box Score
- McKyler Morris (Belvidere, Ill.) led the offense, going two-for-three at the plate, scoring two runs and tacking on an RBI.
- Kallie Tierney (Corona, Calif.) also went two-for-three from the plate.
- Alyssa Campos (Eastvale, Calif.), Arissa Santos (Moreno Valley, Calif.), and Mayah Larenas (Chino, Calif.) each picked up a hit on the day, with Santos recording two RBIs.
- Linley Southern (Decatur, ill.) added an RBI, while Emily Garcia (Eastvale, Calif.) and Jessica Geng (Phoenix, Ariz.) scored a run a piece.
- Two Cougars pitched in the circle for the Cougars: Ashley Shroll (Tampa, Fla.) and Megan Bouska (Plainfield, Ill.).
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How It Happened
- The Cougars struggled to find their footing in the top of the first, as the Raiders were able to load the bases, with two outs on the board. However, Southern came in clutch in the outfield, grabbing a high line drive and ending the inning with no damage done. The Cougars went three up, three down to end the inning.
- In the second, a few Cougar errors allowed MSOE to put the first run on the board. The Cougars battled back in the bottom half of the inning. Morris led off with a single and advanced to second off a sacrifice bunt from Campos. The Raiders then walked Santos and Larenas got hit by a pitch to load the bases. After her big play an inning earlier, Southern stepped up to the plate and put the ball in play towards the MSOE shortstop, which drove in Morris to tie the game.
- At the top of the third, MSOE had runners on first and second with one out, but their next batter lined out to Santos who threw the ball to Garcia to make the double play and keep the game level. To start the bottom half of the inning, Garcia was hit by a pitch and was able to advance to second off a sacrifice bunt from Katelyn Smith (Chatsworth, Ga.). CUC's next batter popped up to short to put two outs on the board. The Cougars, however, love a two-out rally, and Morris sliced one down the middle for an RBI single, plating Garcia, and taking the lead 2-1.
- In the fourth, Shroll took the Raiders down, one-by-one, quickly getting to the bottom of the inning. Unfortunately, the Cougars couldn't capitalize on their base runners but continued to hold a 2-1 lead.
- MSOE found a way to score to runs in the top of the fifth, and take a 3-2 lead. Their lead was quickly eradicated in the second half of the inning. With both Geng and Morris walked, Santos stepped up to the plate and doubled into the left center gap in the outfield, scoring both Geng and Morris, retaking the lead, 4-3.
- A Cougar error allowed MSOE's first batter onto the base path. The runner quickly moved around the bases and scored to tie the game, 4-4. Then, with two outs, a MSOE double and another Cougar error allowed the Raiders to take the lead 6-4. Unfortunately, CUC could only get one hit in the bottom of the sixth and trailed headed to the bottom of the seventh.
- The Cougars once again made a double play to end the top of the seventh and give themselves a make-or-break moment in the bottom of the inning. Two quick outs put the Cougars in a tight spot, but they weren't finished. Campos hit a single to the outfield and Santos walked to put runners on first and second. Sadly, a strikeout ended CUC's run, eliminating them from the NACC Tournament, in a 6-4 decision.
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Highlights
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The Cougars ended the season with a final record of 23-17-1 and a conference record of 16-8. Stay up to date with all things CUC Softball in the offseason by following @cucsoftball on both Instagram and X. Updates such as rosters and schedules can be found at cucougars.com.
