(Rosemont, IL) Concordia Softball entered their third and final day at the NAIA Leadoff Tournament with a rematch against #25 St. Xavier and a game against the Roosevelt Lakers. The Cardinals fell to St. Xavier, but ended the weekend with a victory over the Lakers.
Game 1 – Concordia 3, St. Xavier 10
The Cardinals were the first to plate a run in the top of the first when Shannon McAlinden brought home Payton Lewis with a sacrifice bunt. Kendall Kahl started in the circle for the Cards and gave up three runs in the first, with only one of them being earned.
Jada Stephenson drove in a run with a sacrifice bunt of her own in the top of the second to help cut in to the lead. The Cougars responded with a four-run inning in the bottom of the second, including a three-run homer.
Cassidy Kane entered the game for the Cardinals and was able to shut down St. Xavier for three innings. In the top of the fifth, Olivia Sieradzki scored off of a Cougar fielding error.
The Cougar offense was eventually able to get to Kane in the bottom of the sixth when they tacked on three more insurance runs to seal the win.
Game 2 - Concordia 7, Roosevelt 4
Kendall Kahl also started the second game for the Cards, as she would go 6.1 innings in the win. The Lakers opened up the scoring with a run off of a double in the top of the first. Madison Poe evened things up when she singled home Payton Lewis in the bottom half of the same inning. It was then Payton Lewis who gave Concordia the lead in the next inning when her double plated Katie Tobias.
Roosevelt knotted the game up at two a piece in the top of the third, but that was short lived as Concordia answered back with two runs later in the inning. Olivia Sieradzki got things started when her groundout brought home Madison Poe. Katie Tobias batted in Jada Stephenson to increase the lead to two.
Three more Cardinal runs were scored in the bottom of the fourth by way of singles from Madison Poe and Jada Stephenson.
Roosevelt tried to mount a comeback in the seventh inning, cutting their deficit back to three runs. Paige Anderson was called in to get the final two outs and earned her first save of the season.
The Cardinals will be back in action with a trio of games at the Legacy Center in Brighton, Michigan, on Friday, February 10th. Their first game will be against Goshen at 8:30 AM, followed by IU-South Bend and Huntington.
