(Melbourne, FL) - The Concordia Cardinals traveled down to Melbourne, Florida to compete, for a week, at the USSSA Space Coast Games for 13 games as they would play the first 2 on Sunday night. The Cardinals took on the Dakota Wesleyan Tigers for a doubleheader. Concordia picked up a sweep on the day over the Tigers.
The Cardinals came into the day with a 9-2 overall record, while the Tigers entered at 5-6.
GAME 1 - CONCORDIA 3, DAKOTA WESLEYAN 2 - 8 INNINGS
Paige Anderson (4-2) took to the mound for the first game of spring break and pitched the full eight innings. She allowed two unearned runs on four hits and one walk. She also struck out seven batters in the game.
Both sides would go quickly throughout the first three innings as the Cardinal defense turned a double play in the second inning after a leadoff single. The top of the fourth saw the Tigers pick up a run on a groundout and took advantage of an error. CUAA put two runners on via walks in the fourth, with neither being able to score.
The Cardinal bats stayed quiet until the sixth inning when Bella Lee walked, which brought Shannon McAlinden across to score. Neither team was able to score in the seventh as the game advanced to extra innings.
With the international tiebreaker rule in effect, that would start every half-inning with a runner on second. DWU was able to hit a ground-rule double down the left-field line to bring home the second Tigers run of the game.
For Concordia in the bottom of the inning, Payton Lewis was placed on second to start it for the Cards. Following a McAlinden single Elyse Brittain walked to load the bases with two outs. Lee would come back up to the plate to face a new Tiger pitcher. Lee would wind up walking on four straight pitches to tie the game back up at 2. Morgan Scott came up to bat and after two straight balls, she was hit for a Cardinal walk-off.
GAME 2 - CONCORDIA 9, DAKOTA WESLEYAN 3
Getting the start for game 2 was Emilee Underwood. Underwood (6-0) pitched a complete game for the Cardinals allowing three runs (one earned) on five hits. She would also strike out a career-high 11 batters.
The Cardinals started off the top of the first not being able to score Summer Brady from second with 1 out. Underwood struck out her first two batters of the game in the bottom half, with one reaching base, as well as allowing a walk, but neither run scored.
The second inning didn't see any action from either side. Lewis singled in the third but was caught stealing to end the inning. The first Tigers runs came in the inning on a leadoff inside the park home run to right-center field.
CUAA crossed the plate for the first time, in the fourth, when Shannon McAlinden was hit by a pitch and then continued to steal second and third and would score on a Kaleigh McClelland single to left-center field.
The fifth inning saw the second inside-the-park home run when Payton Lewis laced a shot past a diving Tigers fielder in right-center and scored along with Brooklyn Cox for the 3-1 lead. The Tigers would take advantage of a couple of Cardinal errors in the bottom of the fifth to plate two and tie the game back up.
The CUAA bats came to life in the sixth as they plated six runs. Cassidy Kane opened the inning with a double which was followed by a Jada Stephenson bunny single. Megan Martin's pinch-hit single up the middle scored Kane and then a sacrifice bunt from Sarah Tyrell scored Martin. A couple of at-bats later McAlinden doubled to reight-center scoring Carlie Atcheson Morgan Scott and Elyse Brittain singled home McAlinden for the final run of the game.
CUAA once again threatened in the seventh but to no avail as the Tigers got out of the inning. After a leadoff single, Underwood recorded two strikeouts in the final frame to finish the game off.
TOP PERFORMERS
Shannon McAlinden, Jada Stephenson, and Payton Lewis each tallied three hits on the day, with Lewis and McAlinden recording two RBIs. In those three hits, Lewis recorded a triple and her inside-the-park home run. Cassidy Kane, Stephenson, and McAlinden each tallied a double, McAlinden with two.
The Cardinals went 9-10 on stolen bases being led by McAlinden with five.
UP NEXT
The Cardinals will play three tomorrow, March 4, with the games being against Roosevelt, Marian, and Fisher. The Roosevelt and Marian games will be back-to-back starting at 11 AM and then the Fisher game starting at 7 PM.
