Irvine, Calif. - The No. 9 Concordia University Irvine softball team split with Biola in its conference opener on Thursday. The Biola Eagles took game one and the Concordia Eagles answered back with the win in game two. The first game was a hard-fought battle between CUI's ace Callie Nunes and BU's ace Paige Austin, but at the end of the day Austin took the win. Freshman Cortney Koelmans secured her first victory in the circle and held Biola to two runs. The final score for game two ended as Concordia up 8-2.
 
Game One:
 
The first game was tight, ending with Biola up 3-2. CUI and BU played good defense and the game breaker ended up being a homerun over centerfield by Biola senior Kayla Neff. 
 
Concordia scored early in the game. Megan Massa started off the bottom of the first with a double and was scored by Sydni Dix who singled to left field. The Green and Gold scored again in the bottom of the second. McKinsey Thorpe doubled to left-center and scored when Rylie Rohr bunted to third base.
 
The Biola Eagles scored in the top of the fourth, making their mark and held the Concordia Eagles 3-2. 
 
On the defense side, Nunes limited Biola's offense to five hits. She also had three strikeouts and no walks. 
 
Game Two:
 
The second game was an exciting matchup. Biola started the top of the first inning by scoring a run and in the bottom of the first CUI responded with three. The Concordia Eagles were able to keep the lead, getting four insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth making the score CUI up 8-2.
 
Lauren Lopez started off the bottom of the sixth with a double and then Lauren Fairchild picked her up with a single to left field. Fairchild had a standout performance. She was two for three in the batter's box and put together a number of solid at-bats where she repeatedly fouled off pitches.
 
"I think I felt really relaxed and I stuck to my plan at the plate," said Fairchild. "We made some adjustments offensively and I was just trying to swing at some good pitches to hit."
 
Head coach and athletic director Crystal Rosenthal added, "Lu went off." 
 
"She had a rough end to the trip in Vegas and really made some improvements over the last couple weeks," said Rosenthal. "Proud of her. Megan Massa also had a good day up-to-bat and Sprinkle and Nemeth back-to-back are tough for anyone to face. I wouldn't want to throw to them."  
 
Koelmans pitched a great game and ended with three strikeouts. She kept BU to four hits, forcing them to flyout and groundout. 
 
"Cortney deserved her game one win in Vegas and had an unfortunate ball in the wind, but she's had a really good freshman year," said CUI head coach Crystal Rosenthal. "I'm not surprised at all. Her poise is really, really good and her stuff was good tonight."
 
Koelmans admitted, "My ball was spinning really well (tonight). I felt like I was working on getting my pitches off the plate more and getting more swings and misses," added Koelmans. " It was exciting and I was glad I was able to go in and help our team out."
 
CUI softball improves to 5-2 on the season and will play Biola again on Saturday, March 13 with a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m. in La Mirada, Calif.
 
CLICK HERE to view the softball team's full schedule
 
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