Concordia pitcher Danielle Pulfrey battles the rain against Southern Oregon on Sunday.
Cavs Shut Out, Split With Southern Oregon
PORTLAND, Ore.—After an 8-0 win in five innings, a Concordia comeback in the nightcap collapsed in the seventh as Southern Oregon rallied for an 8-7 win to manage a doubleheader split in Cascade Collegiate Conference softball action at Delta Park.
With the results, Concordia moved to 9-8 on the year and 4-2 in CCC play. The Raiders finished the day 4-13 overall and 3-3 in league play.
The Cavaliers cruised in the opener after posting six unearned runs in the first inning via five hits and three errors. After sending 12 batters to the plate in the first, CU added a run in the second with an RBI single to center by Tina Garcia (Concord, Calif./Concord H.S.).
Concordia nearly supplied its eight run in the fourth with Shayna Ostlund (Graham, Wash./Auburn Riverside H.S.) stranded at third, but the team would comeback in the fifth with right fielder Kari Mabe (Toledo, Ore./Toledo H.S.) belting a double to right-center to lead off the inning.
After a Nicole Illias (Beaverton, Ore./Valley Catholic H.S.) sacrifice, CU cut garnered the early win with a game-ending single through the right side by Denise Benedict (Ridgefield, Wash./Prairie H.S.).
Working with the lead, CU starter Danielle Pulfrey (Hillsboro, Ore./Hillsboro H.S.) cruised to a one-hit shutout. The sophomore struck out six Raider batters and yielded three walks.
The Raiders nearly broke the shutout in the fourth with Bailey Price (Napa, Calif.) making it to third by way of a pair of walks and a passed ball, only to see Pulfrey work out of the inning with a strikeout.
Four Cavaliers finished 2-for-3 at the plate with Illias, Garcia and Mabe all recording one run and one RBI in the process. Benedict went 2-for-3 with one run and two RBI’s.
In the second game, the Cavs once again jumped out to an early lead with three runs in the bottom of the first with the aid of three hits and two Raider errors.
SOU would strike back with a solo run in the fourth and would take the lead in the next stanza by plating four runners off three walks, two hits and a Cavalier error.
In an immediate response, CU put three more on the board in the bottom of the fifth to regain the lead at 6-5 and an RBI single by Cristofaro gave the Cavs a two-run gap in the sixth.
Trying to add some additional insurance runs in the inning, CU was taken out of the inning by head-up fielding by the Raiders.
With two outs and runners at first and third, SOU pitcher Joelle Riekerman (Riddle, Ore.) gobbled a comeback grounder off the bat of Concordia’s Ostlund and fired home to battery mate Sara Stenson (Martinez, Calif.) for the tagout.
From there, Stenson fired to the shortstop to begin a rundown of the Cavalier runner where a quick throw to third provided the unconventional double play to end the threat.
The play would be rewarded as the Raiders fought back for three runs in the seventh for the fourth and final lead change of the game.
Garcia led off the seventh with a single but would remain at first as Riekerman would send down the next three batters to end the game and preserve the split.
Concordia returns to action on Monday for a make-up doubleheader against Oregon Tech. First pitch is slated for 11 a.m. at Delta Park.