The Dominican University softball team earned their spot in the 2019 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament on Sunday, sweeping a doubleheader from the Alverno College Inferno to earn the fifth-seed in the six team tournament. With the wins, the Stars improve to 23-17 on the season and 12-10 in the NACC.
Dominican will now prepare for the NACC Tournament, taking on the Marian University Sabres, the tournament's four-seed, in the opening round on Thursday at Aurora's Spartan Athletic Complex. First pitch for the Stars' 2019 tournament debut, is scheduled for 2:00 p.m., the second game of the first day of the tournament.
Game One: Dominican 11, Alverno 2
Leading 4-2 in the top of the sixth, the Stars broke the game open with a seven-run top of the sixth. The Stars sent 11 hitters to the plate in the rally, collecting eight hits, including two for
Cecilia Winters McCarthy. Both Winters McCarthy and
Sydney Kuderna ripped two-run singles in the inning while
Gabby Curran and
Hannah Gordon had RBI singles each and
Cat Klostermann roped a run-scoring double.
In the circle, Klostermann improved to 9-9 on the season, tossing a complete game. The junior right-hander surrendered just two runs on three hits and one walk while punching out eight.
At the plate, the Stars logged 17 hits in the win.
Megan Hufnagle was a perfect 4-for-4 with three runs scored while Gordon finished 2-for-4 with four runs batted in.
Game Two: Dominican 6, Alverno 1
Freshman
Allyson Dilday picked up her tenth win of the season, tossing her team-leading 12
th complete game of the season to improve to 10-5. The rookie right-hander worked around four hits and three walks while surrendering just one run and striking out four.
Both teams scored a single run in the first but it was the Stars that scored the game's final five runs to take the win.
Alena Valenzuela had a monster game for the Stars, going 2-for-3 with three runs driven in and two runs scored. The junior slugger belted a run scoring triple in the third, later scoring on a wild pitch and then homered to left field her next time up in the fifth inning. Then in the sixth, Valenzuela worked a seven-pitch walk with the bases loaded for her third RBI of the day.
Winters McCarthy had two more hits in game two while Curran, Kuderna,
Katie Fredrick and
Alyssa Stuart all finished with one hit apiece.