AZUSA, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine softball team needed four wins in two days to clinch the PacWest Southern California Pod title.

It was a tall task, but the No. 12 Eagles were up for the challenge. And after two dominant victories over the Azusa Pacific Cougars on Senior Day, CUI emerged with two more tough wins on Saturday to pass Biola in the standings and win the pod.

Game 1: CUI 1, APU 0

In the first game on Saturday, McKinsey Thorpe supplied the go-ahead RBI single in the sixth inning and pitcher Callie Nunes teamed up with Erika Morris for the combined shutout.

Nunes started the opener for the second straight day and tossed four scoreless frames. She was able to work out of trouble a couple of times and only gave up three hits. Morris entered in the fifth and only allowed two hits and two walks in three scoreless innings of work.

CUI did not get a single runner on base until the sixth inning, but that's when the Eagles were able to capitalize and get on the board.  Myka Hughes beat out an infield single with two outs to get things going. Megan Massa then followed quickly with a single to right field and an ill-advised throw to third base allowed both Hughes and Massa to move into scoring position.

Thorpe then provided the clutch hit that drove in Hughes to give CUI the 1-0 lead.

It wound up being the only run of the game.

"The sixth inning was a big inning for us," said Thorpe. "We had been struggling up to bat against APU so for Myka to get us started & then Megan to keep us going really showed how much we wanted to support our pitchers."
 
APU managed to get the potential tying run on base in both the bottom of the sixth and seventh innings, but CUI's defense helped lock up the victory.

The Green and Gold were able to get a timely double play to erase a threat in the sixth. Rylie Rohr fielded a grounder and threw to first for one out, and then Missy Nemeth fired a laser to Jocelyn Pino to nab another runner to end the inning.

In the seventh, Morris and her teammates were able to execute a couple force outs at third base to close it out. The Cougars left 11 runners on base, which again was a credit to CUI's defense.

Morris improved to 4-1 with the game one victory. More importantly, CUI moved to 14-9 in conference play and 25-11 overall. The 14 wins tied Biola for the most in the SoCal pod with one game remaining to see if CUI could claim sole possession of first place in the regular season finale.

Game 2: CUI 8, APU 5

The Cougars raced out to an early 4-0 lead in game two, but the Eagles found a way to get back in the game.

CUI collected five singles in the third inning with Sydney Sprinkle and Pino each knocking in a run. Thorpe again made an impact by stealing home as part of a double steal with Sprinkle and before the Cougars could blink, the Eagles had trimmed the deficit to 4-3.

In the top of the fifth, the Eagles struck again for three runs and took the lead for good. After the first three hitters loaded the bases, Nemeth smacked a RBI single to tie the game. A few pitches later, Pino supplied a two-run single to put CUI up 6-4.

Marisa Stockton also placed a perfect bunt down for an infield single to plate Sprinkle for an important insurance run in the seventh.

Morris and Nunes came on in relief to help cage the Cougars offense the final few innings. Morris wound up earning wins in both games to improve to 5-1 and Nunes came in to record the final six outs and notch career save No. 10 in the process.

"Our pitchers were outstanding today," continued Thorpe. "It was a real team effort with our pitching staff & they really helped us stayed in the game. Both Erika and Callie worked hard today on the mound to keep the APU batters off balance which helped us stay in the game & allowed the offense to dig out some runs."

"Super proud of my team," said CUI head coach Crystal Rosenthal. "This was a tough year and to win our pod is awesome!  It was a group effort today and I couldn't be happier with our ability to hold it together and pull this out.  Erika was big time in game one on the mound when we really needed her, and we are looking forward to what's next."

CUI is hosting a total of six schools for the D2 West Regional Tournament starting on Wednesday, May 19. That tourney runs through Saturday, May 22.  Be sure to be on the lookout for our Tourney Central page coming soon for the D2 West Regional Tournament!

For the most up-to-date schedule for CUI softball, CLICK HERE

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