After knocking off the Concordia University Chicago Cougars 1-0 to stave off elimination earlier on Friday, the Dominican University softball team later lost Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons 6-3 to close out the Stars’ season.
Dominican got on the board first against the Falcons as
Andrea Pinarski (Goshen, Ind.) launched a first inning solo home run over the right-center fence. The blast was Pinarski’s fourth of the season and marked the sophomore’s fourth RBI of the NAC Tournament.
Right-hander
Emily Mahoney (Crystal Lake, Ill.) kept the Falcons off the board until the bottom of the third as Janelle Schroder lined a leadoff single. The Falcons sacrificed the sophomore over to second who then took third on a wild pitch by Mahoney. Schroder then scored on a sac fly off the bat of Cara Landherr.
The Falcons tacked on two more runs off Mahoney in the bottom of the fourth on one hit, one walk and a wild pitch. Mahoney was then lifted for
Jori Cicale (Steger, Ill.) to start the bottom of the fifth. Over the final two innings, the Cicale surrendered three runs on five hits.
Cicale tried to help her own cause in the bottom of the sixth, plating
Beth Santor (Oak Lawn, Ill.) on a two-out RBI single down the left field line. After taking second and third on wild pitches, Cicale was stranded at third as
Mikaela Westbrook (Farmington, Mo.) grounded out to short.
Trailing 6-2 heading into the top of the seventh,
Sarah Budz (Orland Park, Ill.) led off with a single to left, the first hit of the tournament for the NAC Player of the Year. After a sacrifice bunt, Pinarski bounced out to Jamie Schuh, the Falcons’ pitcher for the second out. Mahoney ripped an RBI double to the left-center gap.
Mary Costello (Chicago, Ill.) reached on an error to keep the Stars’ rally going, but Schuh got
Melissa Summaria (Algonquin, Ill.) to fly out to shallow left to end the game.
The Stars got three runs on nine hits while the Falcons scored six runs on nine hits.
Dominican finishes the season with an overall record of 24-15, going 15-9 in the NAC regular season to finish fourth in the conference.
