No. 17 CUI Salvages Split In Rematch With Silverswords

IRVINE, Calif. – There was the one that got away and then there was a strong response to end the night on a high note.

In Wednesday’s rematch with Chaminade, the Concordia University Irvine softball team worked extra innings in the first game of the day before outscoring the Silverswords in the series finale.

No. 17 Concordia won the series 3-1 and improved to 17-1 in PacWest play.

The first place Golden Eagles are one of four nationally ranked teams in the West Region and were coming off two solid shutout victories over Chaminade on Tuesday.

Game 1: Chaminade 4, No. 17 CUI 3 (9 innings)

Michalah Robison launched her first career home run in the second inning to the delight of the CUI dugout and home crowd. She added an RBI single in the fourth to tie the contest at 2-2 following an RBI double by the Silverswords in the top of that frame.

Jessica Im also knocked home Megan Johnson in the bottom of the fifth to even the score at 3-3.

In the circle, freshman Jayden Nishi looked comfortable and tossed a career-high four innings. The lefty also struck out a season-best four batters while only allowing two walks.

Katlin Entrup entered in the fifth and finished with eight strikeouts in 4.1 innings. She struck out the side in the sixth and sandwiched a pop up around two more K’s in a 1-2-3 seventh.

However, the Golden Eagles saw their 16-game winning streak in PacWest play snapped when the Silverswords took the lead in the ninth inning. CUI tried to tie it again but ran out of outs.

This was remarkably the tenth time already that the Golden Eagles have played draws.

Concordia fell to 4-6 when playing extra innings this season. At the same time, the Golden Eagles ended the day a whopping 25-1 when their games are the standard seven innings or less.

Game 2: No. 17 CUI 8, Chaminade 5

Megan Casper stepped up big time for her team and spelled relief when she entered early in the third inning. The game was tied 5-5 and she went on to limit Chaminade to only two measly hits the rest of the night. CUI took the lead in the bottom half of the third behind Kaia Nisby’s RBI double that scored Shelley Faulk.

In the fourth, the Golden Eagles added a couple of insurance runs behind an RBI single by Im and an RBI triple to the gap by Mary Baccay. Baccay’s smash ended up going all the way to the wall to round out the scoring and make it 8-3 Concordia.

Courtney Koelmans pitched parts of two innings and struck out three batters. Meanwhile, freshman Kira Morris made her home debut after pitching twice earlier this season. She also struck out a batter before giving way to Casper.

CUI is slated to play two games in Azusa this Saturday, March 30 weather permitting. As of Wednesday evening, the conference doubleheader between the top two teams in the league standings is set to begin at 12 pm

CLICK HERE for the updated PacWest softball standings

CLICK HERE for the full CUI softball schedule