IRVINE, Calif. – The ninth-ranked Concordia Golden Eagles took three out of four games against Top 25 competition in a 48-hour span, proving they do indeed belong among the nation's elite squads.
After defeating No. 19 Cal State San Marcos twice on the road on Friday, CUI responded with a pair of gritty efforts against No. 23 Cal State Dominguez Hills.
In a rematch of last spring's NCAA DII West Regional Final, both squads earned a 2-0 victory. Each team had opportunities to win both games, as the tying runs were on base late in each game but were stranded.
CUI moved to 29-7 overall while CSUDH now stands at 21-10. The Golden Eagles have compiled a whopping 17 shutouts in their 29 victories.
Game 1: CUI 2, CSUDH 0
In the second inning,
Rylie Rohr smoked a pitch over the wall and into the trees for her conference-leading eighth home run of the year.
The Golden Eagles played a little small-ball in the sixth to expand their lead. After getting two runs on base,
Shelby Pfeiler smacked a sacrifice fly to the outfield deep enough to score
Megan Johnson to put CUI up 2-0.
That's how the first game would end as starting pitcher
Rae Flores and her teammates kept the Toros off the scoreboard. Flores tossed six shutout innings and only allowed five hits.
Center fielder
Kaia Nisby helped prevent a run in the seventh with a quick relay throw to home plate after a single by the Toros. Pfeiler and third baseman
Jocelyn Pino were able to tag a runner out after she got caught in a pickle to help squash any comeback attempts by CSUDH.
Daniela Alvarez earned her fourth save by completing the contest with a strikeout to preserve the win for Flores.
Game 1: CSUDH 2, CUI 0
Megan Massa and
Mary Baccay each contributed two hits in the rematch but CUI could not muster enough of a rally to get on the board offensively.
Cortney Koelmans went a solid five frames in the circle and only allowed five hits and two earned runs.
Callie Nunes pitched fantastic and spelled relief to help get CUI out of a two-on-and-nobody-out jam in the top of the sixth. CUI loaded the bases in the bottom of the sixth but consecutive grounders ended that threat.
CUI just ran out of outs in its push to sweep the non-conference series between NCAA DII softball heavyweights.
CUI gets right back after it this coming week with home doubleheaders on Monday (Holy Names), Wednesday (APU) and Saturday (Biola).
The Monday twin billing with the Hawks begins at 11 a.m. in a rare day-time rendezvous.
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