IRVINE, Calif.- The No.11 Concordia University Irvine softball team competed in the final day of the NCAA West Regional. They took the field against Biola at 12 p.m. and extended the championship to a second winner-take-all game. The Green and Gold never stopped fighting in the West Regional coming back stronger than ever after their first loss to UH Hilo by one run. They run-ruled their opponents in two of the three elimination games, outscoring their opponents 30-5. 
 
 "I'm extremely proud of our effort today," said head coach and athletic director Crystal Rosenthal. "To be honest this was a tough year, it was tough for everybody in the world not just Concordia softball. I took on a new role, had a lot of new responsibilities and my team was really patient with me. My staff was extremely helpful to me so I wanted to give them a shout out just for bearing down and taking a huge load off of my shoulders in the fall when they had to. As we navigated COVID I am proud of my team for the decisions that they made, we had very minimal mistime on our team and just really their all out energy."
 
"This is one of the first times I'm disappointed that we didn't win, but I'm super proud of our effort," continued Rosenthal. "I told our kids you have nothing to be ashamed of. We left everything out on that field today."
 
Game One: CUI 3, BU 2 
 
Senior All-American Callie Nunes took the mound in game one and gave an outstanding performance. She showcased her seniority tossing an incredible game, only letting up four hits. Nunes has had an unbelievable career at CUI. She leads in the Concordia scorebook in several categories. This year alone she set the career record for most strikeouts (accumulating over 700) and career saves. Nunes is also a three-time All-American and a three-time recipient of PacWest Pitcher of the Year.
 
"First off I just want to give Callie a shout out," stated Rosenthal. "You know for four years she's absolutely dominated. I know there was some questions about her this year, Pitcher of the Year very well deserved and she showed why in game one. It was nice to give her a day off yesterday and get her rested. When I watched her today she was good and I knew she was going to be good but just we've had great pitching here and for her to come in and do what she did for four years is extremely hard to do and put herself ahead in all categories."
 
"We never stopped practicing and one of our players said it perfectly today that the standards at this school and this program are set very high and we expect nothing less and Crystal expects nothing less than our best," said Nunes. "Today sucks because it wasn't the outcome we wanted but we seniors told the rest of the team that what we expect from them next year is to go the next step. We've been blessed to have great teams every year, have great pitching, great hitting all the way around."
 
McKinsey Thorpe flew across the bases in the first inning, earning a triple that scored Megan Massa who began the inning with a single. 
 
"All credit to Thorpe," explained Rosenthal. "That was not a sign, that was Thorpe on her own reading the defense. A really good spot and setting the tone for us." 
 
Missy Nemeth then scored Thorpe later in the first with a sacrifice fly, securing the Eagles early lead 2-0.
 
In the fourth, Nemeth came up big again for her team smacking a solo-shot home run over center, giving CUI another insurance run over Biola. That was Nemeth's ninth long ball of the season.
 
CUI ended up taking a thrilling first game win over BU to extend championship play to a second game. 
 
Game Two: CUI 1, BU 2
The Green and Gold forced a winner-take-all championship game that was hardly fought on both sides. Senior Kelsea Sweeney has been dominant all season and especially clutch in the West Regional. She pitched well against BU, coming at the zone hard and doing everything that she could to keep her team in the game. 
 
CUI's defense laid it all out on the field, making some phenomenal plays. Thorpe, PacWest Player of the Year,  showcased her seniority making a game-changing play in the top of the fifth. She dove for a grounder in the 3-4 hole, quickly got up and then fired the ball home to cut the run. The runner coming in at home would have been Biola's first run of the game. 
 
"Just being an Eagle has been the best experience that I've ever had, being able to come back for a fifth year was honestly a blessing," said Thorpe. "I'm so glad that I was able to compete this year even with COVID and everything. I'm so proud of my team, we really put it out there. We definitely had an upward battle not winning our first game, but we definitely came back and proved why we should be in the postseason."

Concordia had four hits and scored their run off of a sacrifice fly by Sydney Sprinkle.

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