IRVINE, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine pitching staff refused to allow a single run on Tuesday during the team's doubleheader with Chaminade.
The Eagles used four different pitchers on this sunny day to finish off the series sweep of the Silverswords. Once the Eagles took the lead, they held it the rest of the way in both conference clashes despite both teams turning in solid pitching performances.
Ranked No. 2 in the NFCA DII national rankings for the fourth consecutive week, Concordia improved to an eye-popping 28-0 on the season and 16-0 in PacWest Conference play. The Eagles are the only softball team that is undefeated in the entire NFCA DII Top 25 rankings.
Game 1: CUI 2, Chaminade 0
The performance of left-hander
Rae Flores was a forecast of what was to come as she allowed only two hits in five innings while striking out five batters. Flores got herself out of a bases-loaded jam with only one out in the third as she threw home for a force out to
Kendall Flatt for the second out and then coerced a grounder to shortstop
Rylie Rohr that ended the threat.
Sydney Sprinkle smashed a solo home run in the fourth inning to put CUI in front. A couple batters later,
Danielle Michaels followed with a RBI single that plated Rohr to give the Eagles an insurance run.
Sprinkle also made a sweet catch on a liner to the hot corner to rob one Chaminade batter of a base hit. It came after
Erika Morris entered the circle to close it out for Flores. Morris allowed just one hit in two scoreless innings and earned her second save of the season.
Game 2: CUI 3, Chaminade 0
Sydney Sprinkle cracked a solo home run again in the second game of the day to again open the scoring. This time the big fly came in the bottom of the first.
Mia Saucedo knocked a RBI single through the right side to tack on another run and double the lead for CUI in the second.
Saucedo then manufactured another run for the Green and Gold as she executed a double steal with runners on the corners. As Saucedo broke for second base with two outs, she slid under the catcher's throw safely and that allowed
Megan Massa to hustle home from third to make it 3-0.
Cortney Koelmans improved to 6-0 on the season after racking up four strikeouts and allowing only three hits over six shutout innings.
Katlin Entrup entered for the final frame and faced only four batters before locking down her second save of the season. Both her and Koelmans sport impressive earned run averages with Koelmans holding a 0.65 ERA and Entrup right behind her at 0.95 ERA.
If you thought that was impressive how about this: Entrup has not allowed an earned run in her last 31.2 innings of work.
The Eagles also had a shutout victory in their second game on Monday, which means that's three consecutive wins without allowing a single run.
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