River Forest, IL – The Dominican University softball team traveled down the street to face the Concordia University Chicago Cougars, taking game one 13-1 before falling 6-5 in extra innings in game two.
Game One:
In the top of the first inning to start game one, Makayla Barnes was walked before advancing to second. Barnes would cross home plate off of an error by the Cougars to give Dominican the early 1-0 lead. The Cougars responded in the bottom of the inning to tie it up at one apiece.
Hailey Morland recorded a single in the top of the second inning before Barnes stepped up and hit a double allowing Morland to come around the bases putting the Stars up 2-1.
A single up the middle by Zoe Deeringer started a rally for Dominican. Maddie Sniegolski came in to pinch run before advancing to second after a single by Theresa Wilsterman. A single to right-field by Cecilia Winters-McCarthy brought the two runners home extending the Stars lead to 4-1. Megan McCamman stepped up next hitting a home run to cap off a four-run inning.
The Stars kept their momentum going into the top of the fourth inning as Barnes reached first on an error by the Cougars. A single by Kennedy Marvin advanced Barnes a base before Wilsterman was walked to load the bases for Dominican. Winters-McCarthy singled to right-field bringing Barnes and Marvin home to make it 8-1. Another home run by MaCamman brought in three more runs for the Stars to extend their lead to 11-1.
To start the top of the fifth inning, Barnes hit a double to right-field. Deeringer then stepped up to the plate hitting a 2-run home run to seal the 13-1 victory.
The Stars were able to connect offensively in game one as they had 13 runs off of 12 hits. McCamman had two home runs and five RBIs. Allyson Dilday and Avery Brown combined for seven strikeouts in the circle.
Game Two:
To start game two, a single by Wilsterman brought Barnes across home plate to give Dominican the early 1-0 lead.
In the top of the third inning, Deeringer doubled to left-field putting the Stars in scoring position. Wilsterman hit a double to bring the pinch-runner Sniegolski home to extend Dominican's lead to 2-0. The Cougars would respond in the bottom of the inning with two runs of their own to make it two apiece heading into the top of the fourth inning.
An RBI single by Marvin put the Stars back up 3-2 before CUC responded in the bottom of the inning, bringing two runners around the bases to make it 3-3.
Marvin singled to right-field in the top of the seventh inning before stealing second. Deeringer stepped up next and hit her second home run of the evening to put the Stars up 5-3 heading into the bottom of the inning. The Cougars would step up big and respond with two runs of their own to tie it at five apiece and send the game into extra innings.
The Stars tried to respond in the top of the eighth but couldn't push a run across to take the lead. CUC walked it off in the bottom half of the inning with a sacrifice fly to steal a close one from the Stars and take the 6-5 victory.
In game two the Stars had things going offensively again as they had five runs off of 10 hits while Deeringer recorded her second home run on the night.
"The team came out focused and energetic. They made great adjustments at the plate scoring 19 runs today," said Head Coach
Cristina Lukas. "Ally put the team on her back and pitched like an ace. Game two came down to who would catch the break and it was CUC unfortunately. From the standpoint of how we played, it was a huge improvement over Friday."
The Stars will return to action Wednesday, April 21st when they travel to Lakeland University in a doubleheader match-up with the first pitch at 2:00 p.m.
