SAN RAFAEL, Calif. – No. 23 Concordia improved to 4-0 in PacWest Conference Play after capping off the weekend with a third straight shutout and a dramatic finish against the Dominican Penguins.
CUI pitchers combined to hold Dominican scoreless for 25 straight innings this weekend before the fourth inning in the last game of the series.
Missy Nemeth went yard twice, plus
Mary Baccay and
Michalah Robison provided a couple clutch hits as well to help back the CUI pitching staff on Sunday.
Game 1: No. 23 CUI 2, Dominican 0
For the second straight day,
Katlin Entrup tossed a one-hit shutout to help the Golden Eagles top the Penguins in game one of the doubleheader.
The senior pitcher from Claremont struck out seven and did not walk anyone. She mowed down the Penguins and only faced 24 batters, which is just three more than the minimum for a seven-inning game.
Mary Baccay smacked a solo home run to put CUI ahead in the third inning and then
Missy Nemeth crushed a solo shot herself to give Entrup and the Golden Eagles some extra cushion.
This marked the third straight shutout for CUI of the Penguins and fourth shutout victory already this season overall.
Game 2: No. 23 CUI 8, Dominican 6
Nemeth was at it again in the rematch. She swatted another pitch over the left field wall to make it 1-0 quickly in the top of the first inning. She finished the four-game series 6-for-11 against Dominican with two homers, four runs scored and three RBI.
Rylie Rohr also smashed a three-run homer in the third frame. Rohr is inching closer to the program record for most career long balls. Currently with two homers this season, the Yucca Valley High School alum now has 38 for her career. The school record is 42 shared by Amanda Fama (2011-12) and Amy Eilefson (2015-2018).
Despite building a 5-0 advantage, the Dominican offense came alive in the bottom of the fourth and the Penguins rallied to tie it up at 5-5. The teams traded runs in the fifth as well
Mia Saucedo wound up providing the eventual game-winning RBI single in the sixth. Her hit to the hole scored centerfielder
Kaia Nisby and made it 7-6 Concordia. Nemeth added a RBI single for some extra breathing room.
Michalah Robison stepped up big time on Sunday and contributed a RBI single in the third and a RBI double in the fifth.
Four different pitchers worked together to record the needed 21 outs in the series finale.
Megan Casper started and went 3.1 innings before
Madison Urrutia helped finish the fourth. Then Courtney Koelmans and Entrup combined to finish the final three frames to close it out the right way for the Green and Gold.
CUI continues its 10-game road trip through Northern California with a pair of doubleheaders at Academy of Art on Tuesday and Wednesday.
The Golden Eagles shutout Dominican twice on Saturday by identical scores of 3-0.
CUI will be back home again on Friday, March 8 against Biola.
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