(Sylvania, OH) – Concordia softball competed in the first day of the WHAC conference tournament on Wednesday, traveling to Pacesetter Park in Sylvania, Ohio. The #4 Cardinals faced off against #5 Cornerstone in the first round and then #1 seed Aquinas in the second round. Concordia cruised to a 6-1 win in game 1, but Aquinas made a late comeback to take game 2, 7-6.
Game 1 - #4 CUAA 6, #5 CU 1
Concordia faced off against #5 seed Cornerstone in the first round. Lauren Reichel pitched a complete game on the mound, racking up 8 total strikeouts in the match. The Cardinals struck first in the bottom of the 2nd when Megan Hinkle crushed a 2-run homer that also scored Carly Pearson.
Concordia extended their lead with a run in the 3rd when Shannon McAlinden scored after Emma Parayski was caught in a rundown. The Cardinals added 3 more runs in the 4th, starting with Megan Hinkle scoring on an error after a Lauren Martin bunt single. Koryn Playford tacked on a 2-RBI singled that drove in Lauren Martin and Flesia Borck.
Cornerstone broke the shutout with a run in the 5th, but Lauren Reichel was able to shut down the Golden Eagles the rest of the way en route to the 6-1 win.
Game 2 – #1 AQ 7, #4 CUAA 6
The Cardinals had a lengthy delay before beginning round 2 as Aquinas needed 12 innings to defeat #8 seed UM-Dearborn 6-5. Maddie Cieczka started in game 2 at pitcher. Concordia started out strong by loading the bases in the 1st inning, but the team was unable to score a run. Aquinas took a 1-0 lead with a homer in the 1st.
Concordia surged into the lead with a 6-run 3rd inning. Shannon McAlinden tied the game with an RBI double to score Abbie Begley. Emma Parayski had a go-ahead RBI bunt to drive in McAlinden. Sarah Tyrell drew a bases-loaded walk to allow Flesia Borck to reach home and Lauren Martin hit an RBI single to score Emma Paryaski. Megan Hinkle scored on a wild pitch and Heidi Walters closed out the inning with an RBI groundout scoring Sarah Tyrrell. CUAA lead 6-1 after the 3rd.
The Cardinal defense held the Saints until the 6th inning when Aquinas scored 5 runs to tie the game. The Saints were able to score in the bottom of the 7th to narrowly come back for the win.
Due to projected rain on Thursday, the Cardinals will now play #6 seed Cleary tomorrow at 10am in an elimination game.
