SAN RAFAEL, Calif.- The No.11 Concordia University Irvine softball team ended the Automatic Qualifier Pod Series as the undefeated champions, earning the berth for the West Regional at Eagles Field.
"It was a total team effort this weekend," said head coach and athletic director
Crystal Rosenthal. "Our pitchers worked together as a group to get us outs and our offense found a way to score one more run than the other team. It was nice to start postseason off on a positive foot. My team's efforts impressed me."
Game One: CUI 4, UHH 3
CUI and UH Hilo
had another exciting matchup. Sydney Sprinkle jacked a home run in the third inning to score the first run of the game and then sent another one over in the fifth to put CUI's second run on the board. These two put the Palm Desert, Calif. native at seven home runs for the season.
"I felt really good in the box, so to be able to execute and provide a few runs for the team was nice," said Sprinkle. "Our pitchers threw a great game and we pulled together in the end to get a nice team win."
The Green and Gold scored two more insurance runs in the sixth.
Megan Massa batted in
Lauren Lopez. Lopez pinch ran for
Danielle Michaels, who singled to start the inning. Massa ended up being the second scored run of the inning, she crossed home on a wild pitch.
Freshman
Cortney Koelmans pitched a good five innings, keeping Hilo off balance for a majority of the game. She only let up seven hits and struck out four Vulcans.
Rae Flores came in the bottom of fifth to relieve and she was successfully able to get the final out to diffuse the inning. In the sixth, Flores was replaced by
Erika Morris who came in with runners at first and third. Morris had a big strikeout and then forced a fielder's choice that abruptly ended Hilo's momentum and kept the Eagles up 4-3.
Game Two: CUI 2, Dominican 0
Senior
Kelsea Sweeney had a great outing, tossing a four-hit complete game shutout.
The 2021 PacWest Newcomer of the Year challenged the Penguins offense, not giving them any opportunity to score.
Meanwhile, the score was locked 0-0 until the fifth inning where shortstop
Rylie Rohr broke through with a triple. It was her third triple of the season and it came at a great time. Rohr ended up scoring that inning and the Eagles took the lead, 1-0.
CUI chipped away at Dominican's defense, cashing in another run in the sixth.
Jocelyn Pino smacked a double towards center field to score
Brooke Jackson. Jackson pinch ran for
Missy Nemeth, who had worked her way on base with a walk. The Green and Gold finished the game up on top, 2-0.
"These games were a complete team effort," said Pino. "We all shined in the ways we knew how and we had each other's backs."
Pino continued, "As for gaining the second run in game two, it felt great to put my team in a little bit of ease in the seventh inning."
Seven CUI softball players were named All-Conference on Tuesday by the PacWest coaches and these four were also named to the NFCA DII All-Region First Team:
Callie Nunes, Thorpe, Massa, and Nemeth by the National Fastpitch Coaches Association (NFCA).
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE STORY.
Next, CUI will host the West Regional May 19-22 at Eagles Field. Concordia will enter the West Regional on a nine-game winning streak and is expected to be the top seed out of this six schools that will participate.
The NCAA DII regional softball brackets will be announced on Sunday, May 16 at 7 p.m. P.T. We will be sure to keep you updated on game times, matchups and more in the coming days!
To view the current CUI softball team's full schedule, CLICK HERE.
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