IRVINE, Calif. – Winners of 16 of their last 17 games, the top-seeded Concordia Golden Eagles locked down an exciting and tense 3-2 victory over Northwest Nazarene in the first meeting of the week between the two schools in the NCAA DII West Regional.
CUI secured a spot in Saturday's Regional Final, which will just so happen to be a rematch with the Nighthawks once again.
Concordia scored the first run of the game on a RBI single by
Jocelyn Pino.
Megan Massa led off the game with a four-pitch walk and was bunted into scoring position by
Mary Baccay to set the stage for the heart of the lineup. Pino delivered to give the Golden Eagles that important first run.
Shortstop
Rylie Rohr contributed a RBI single in the third inning to double the advantage.
Missy Nemeth also joined the singles party with a base hit through the right side that plated Pino and made it 3-0 CUI.
Katlin Entrup pitched four-plus innings and only allowed one run to cross the plate.
Daniela Alvarez entered with two on and two out in the bottom of the fifth and struck out one of NNU's best hitters – Tori Hensley – to end the threat.
Another key moment in the game came in the bottom of the sixth inning. NNU loaded the bases with one out and CUI still clinging to a 3-1 advantage. After a RBI single up the middle by pinch-hitter Emma Bumatay, center fielder
Kaia Nisby fired a missile to home plate to prevent a second run from scoring. After
Shelby Pfeiler tagged out the runner trying to score from second base, she then threw over to third baseman
Jocelyn Pino who proceeded to tag out another runner trying to move up. It was a very unorthodox 8-2-3 double play but it was a game-changer for the Golden Eagles defensively and kept them in front to stay.
All-American pitcher
Callie Nunes entered for the final frame and ultimately struck out three batters for the final outs of the contest. The Nighthawks did threaten by getting the potential game-tying and game-winning runs on the bases but when the final pitch settled in Pfeiler's glove, the Golden Eagles had hung on for the huge 3-2 victory.
"I think the beauty of playing us is you truly don't know who is going to pitch," explained CUI head coach
Crystal Rosenthal. "We have a lot of really good options that haven't even seen the field yet so looking forward to seeing what we can do tomorrow. Couldn't be more proud of my team."
CLICK HERE for the updated CUI softball schedule
CUI will face Northwest Nazarene again on Saturday, May 13 at 12 p.m. The Nighthawks survived Friday's elimination game against Biola after the Eagles bounced Cal State San Bernardino. The Golden Eagles will be the designated visiting team in the 12 p.m. game.
If necessary, an additional game will be played right afterwards at approximately 2:30 p.m. CUI needs just one win on Saturday to advance to the Super Regional next Thursday and Friday.
On the other side of this regional bracket in Sonoma, the higher seeds Cal State Dominguez Hills and Sonoma State were both eliminated on Saturday. No. 6 seed Cal State San Marcos is in the catbird seat while PacWest conference member Azusa Pacific will need to win twice on Saturday to advance as the No. 7 seed in the West Region.
CLICK HERE for Tournament Central page for the NCAA DII West Regional
Tickets are just $5 for general admission. Kids ages 3 to 12 are just $2 and kids ages 2 and under are free.
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