(Melbourne, FL) Concordia Softball competed against William Penn and Ave Maria in their games on Monday afternoon and evening. The Cardinals fell in a close matchup against William Penn and bounced back with an 8-2 win in the nightcap over Ave Maria.
Game 1 – Concordia 1, William Penn 2
Paige Anderson pitched a complete game for the Cardinals, going six innings deep and striking out two. The Statesmen accumulated 12 hits throughout the game, scoring two runs in their win.
William Penn drove in a run in the bottom of the first to take an early lead. Morgan Scott's single in the top of the second brough home Jada Stephenson to even things up. It was in the bottom of the fourth that the Statesmen scored off of a single up the middle that would prove to be the game winning run.
Game 2 – Concordia 8, Ave Maria 2
Kendall Kahl was the starter for Concordia and pitched a complete game with 7 innings of work. Kahl stuck out 4, while only allowing 5 baserunners and just one earned run.
Concordia got off to a great start in the bottom of the first when Katie Tobias, Payton Lewis, and Morgan Scott each drove in a run to put the Cards up 3.
The Gyrenes plated a run in the top of the third, but Payton Lewis singled to score Shannon McAlinden in the bottom of the inning.
Ave Maria got their second run in the top of the fifth, but once again the Cardinals responded immediately in the bottom of the inning. Katie Tobias tripled to drive home Shannon McAlinden, and then scored on a dropped fly to increase the lead to four.
The Cards tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth inning with a Maddy Grueter sacrifice fly and Madison Poe single each bringing home a run each.
Top Performers
Shannon McAlinden went 5 for 7 at the dish, leading the Cards in hits (5) and runs (4). Koryn Playford swiped a team high 2 bases on the day and also batted .500 throughout the two games.
The Cardinals had both starters go the distance, giving up just 3 earned runs on the day. Kendall Kahl held her batters to an average of .154 while also sitting down 4 in her game.
Up Next
Next up for the Cardinals will be an off day on Tuesday before games against Dallas Christian and Fort Lauderdale.
