SAN RAFAEL, Calif. - Ranked No. 14 in the latest NFCA DII rankings, the Concordia University Irvine softball team closed out the week 5-1 after splitting a pair on Saturday up north.
 
Concordia dominated the Dominican Penguins for the second straight day after getting tripped up by Northwest Nazarene (who is also receiving votes in the NFCA rankings). The Eagles finished their stay in San Rafael with three wins in four games after sweeping a Tuesday twin bill at Azusa Pacific.
 
Saturday's highlights included an outfielder collecting three hits, a freshman pitcher making her debut and an upperclassman continuing to shine as a clutch pinch-hitter.
 
Game One: CUI 0, NNU 4
 
In the first game of the day, the Eagles ran into a buzzsaw in Northwest Nazarene pitcher Sidney Booth. Booth allowed only four base-runners all game and the Eagles kept trying to put a rally together after falling behind 2-0 after the first frame. The Green and Gold had a promising sixth inning when pinch-hitter Marisa Stockton broke through with a single down the left field line, and the Eagles ultimately loaded the bases after McKinsey Thorpe drew a walk with two outs. However, the Nighthawks defense was able to end the inning with no major damage. 
 
Callie Nunes was solid in relief to keep CUI in the contest. Nunes quieted NNU's sticks, striking out six Nighthawks and producing 11 flyouts. Unfortunately, the Eagles ran out of outs and were unable to pull off the comeback.
 
Game Two: CUI 9, DU 1
 
The Eagles bounced back and took out their frustrations on the Penguins in the last game of the day.  CUI moved ahead quickly with two runs in the top of the first inning, capped off by a RBI single by Sydney Sprinkle.
 
Outfielder Megan Massa led off the game with a base knock and actually collected a single in each of her first three at-bats. She finished 3-for 3 at the plate with three runs scored and three RBI to set the table for the offense.
 
Sydni Dix and McKinsey Thorpe each knocked in two runs. They each had a productive out by plating a teammate while grounding out, and Dix later added a RBI single in the second to make it 5-0 Eagles.
 
Massa'a two-run single in her third at-bat widened the lead to 7-0 in the third inning and the game was out of reach by that point. 
 
As a Fairfield, Calif. native, Massa clearly enjoyed playing close to her old stomping grounds.
 
"For me personally it's a lot of fun playing in NorCal because I get to be back home," explained Massa. "I think traveling is making it feel like a normal season and it gives the team a chance to hang out and bond together."
 
Staked with some run support from the get-go, starting pitcher Kelsea Sweeney cruised through three innings and earned the win since the game was called after five innings due to the eight-run rule.
 
"I was super excited to start game two and work with my team to get a win," said Sweeney. "We started scoring runs early in the game and I wanted to do my best to keep the lead for my team. It was a very exciting game."
 
Pitcher Madison Urrutia made her CUI debut in the circle and it was a memorable one for sure. The true freshman tossed two shutout innings in relief of Sweeney and allowed only one hit while striking out a pair.
 
"It was great to see Madison get her first action out there," said CUI head coach Crystal Rosenthal. "Overall, we need to improve on the mound getting into a better rhythm.  It's been a good week and we will need to continue to improve if we want any chance to play in the postseason."
 
"I think as a team we were excited to travel and get out of SoCal to play some games," added Sweeney. "We've been bringing high energy to each game and we've been having a lot of fun out here. We're very excited to play again on Monday."
 
After a day of rest on Sunday, the Eagles get right back on the field and will wrap up their road trip on Monday against the Academy of Art. The first of two games against the Urban Knights is slated to begin at 10 a.m. with game two to follow. You can follow the action through video live stream and live stats HERE
 
For the updated CUI softball schedule, CLICK HERE
 
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