(Tucson, AZ) - The Concordia University Softball team wrapped up their spring break trip in Arizona with a doubleheader against Park University and Dakota Wesleyan University. The Cardinals dropped both games to end their spring break trip.
Game 1 - Concordia 3, Park University 7
The Cardinals dropped their first game of the doubleheader to the Park University Pirates. The Pirates took advantage of an early lead to win 7-3.
Paige Anderson started the game in the circle for the Cardinals and threw 2 innings allowing four runs on five hits. Anderson had one strikeout and allowed just one walk. Kendall Kahl relieved Anderson in the third inning and she threw five innings allowing three runs on six hits with one strikeout and no walks.
The Pirates got on the board early in the first inning with a hit from Caroline Riffer and a Gracie Ramsey ground ball to short that led to an error. The error from shortstop Payton Lewis scored Riffer to put the Pirates up 1-0 going into the second inning.
The Pirates got on the board again in the second from a Hanna Vaught solo home run to left field. The Pirates got two more runs in the inning from a Riffer base hit and a Ramsey inside the park home run to left field to put the Pirates up 4-0 going into the bottom of the second inning. In the bottom half of the inning, the Cardinals got on the board when Kaleigh McClelland attempted to steal second base. McClelland was thrown out, but Maddy Grueter scored on the play to give the Cardinals their first run.
The Pirates got two more runs in the fourth inning on a Ramsey single to left-center field which scored Riffer and Emma James on a throwing error by center fielder Summer Brady. In the bottom half of the fourth inning, the Cardinals used a sacrifice fly from Grueter that scored Emma Thompson to make it a 6-2 game heading into the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth inning, the Cardinals loaded the bases on a Lewis base hit, Katie Tobias walk, and a Megan Martin hit. The Cardinals were only able to score one run on a Thompson hit by pitch to score Lewis to make it a 6-3 ballgame going into the sixth inning.
The Pirates would score the only run in the rest of the game on a Riffer groundball to short that scored Vaught to make it a 7-3 game which would be the final score.
Game 2 - Concordia 4, Dakota Wesleyan 9
The Cardinals faced the Tigers of Dakota Wesleyan in the second game of the doubleheader to wrap up their spring break trip. The Cardinals got an early lead, but it was not enough to stop the Tigers' offense.
Elyse Brittain started in the circle for the Cardinals going 2.1 innings allowing four runs on three hits with one walk. Emma Thompson relieved Brittain in the third inning and threw 1.2 innings allowing two runs on two hits with no walks. Hannah Duchene relieved Thompson in the fifth inning and threw 2 innings allowing three runs on two hits with four walks.
The Cardinals got on the board early in the first inning on a Lewis single followed by a Tobias single that scored Lewis to get out to a 1-0 lead going into the second.
The Tigers controlled the middle innings of the game starting in the second inning. The Tigers got on the board with a Jaden Warner sacrfice bunt that scored Jaycee Tebay. They tacked on another run on a Ashlen Johnson solo home run to right field to make it 2-1 going into the third.
In the third inning, Peyton Bagley hit a two-run home run to center field to make it 4-1.
In the fifth inning, the Tigers scored three runs starting with a wild pitch that scored Alison Ernsberger. McKinnely Mull scored on a ground ball to third from Alessandra Ciurca. The Tigers scored their final run of the inning on a Tebay double to right center field that scored Bagley to make it a 7-1 game going into the sixth inning.
The Cardinals would tack on three runs in the sixth inning. The bases were loaded off a Faith Cramton double, Duchene single, and a Summer Brady bunt single. Lewis then cleared the bases on a triple down the right field line that scored Cramton, Duchene, and Brady to make it a 7-4 game going into the bottom of the sixth.
In the bottom half of the sixth inning, the Tigers would score two more runs on a Ernsberger two run home run that would score McKenna Thomason to make it a 9-4 ball game which would be the final score.
The Cardinal will have their home opener at the Cardinal Softball Field against Olivet Nazarene on Thursday, March 20th. The first pitch of the doubleheader will be at 3:00 PM.
