Concordia's Janelle Cristofaro notched seven strkeouts to earn her third win of the season.
Cavaliers Take Nightcap after Extra-Inning Loss in Opener
PORTLAND, Ore. – After falling 3-0 in a nine-inning pitchers duel in the opener, the Concordia bats awoke for a 7-4 win in the follow up against Northwest Christian College in Cascade Collegiate Conference softball action on Thursday at Delta Park.
With the results, Concordia moved to 17-14 on the year and 12-8 in the CCC while NCC notched its third league win for a 3-17 conference ledger and a 10-29 overall mark.
NCC’s Darci Byrne (Jacksonville, Ore./South Medford H.S.) hurled a three-hit shutout to defeat the Cavaliers in the first game. Byrne got out of a jam in the second inning with a groundout with runners at the corners and slipped out of trouble in the fifth with a runner on second with no outs, eventually ending the threat with a strikeout.
Byrne’s counterpart, CU starter Danielle Pulfrey (Hillsboro, Ore./Hillsboro H.S.) tallied 13 strikeouts and didn’t allow a runner to third until the final frame.
In the ninth, NCC put together a string of three straight hits to double the team total. Corrie Gustafson (Eugene, Ore.) connected for the game’s initial run with an RBI single to center field and Byrne provided her own support with a two-run double through the left side for a 3-0 lead.
Concordia had a chance to rally in the home half of the inning when Tina Garcia (Concord, Calif./Concord H.S.) reached second via a Beacon error, but was doubled off after Byrne snagged a comeback shot to the pitcher and tossed to second for the double play. The game would conclude in the nest at-bat as Byrne got Concordia’s Rebekah Wirkkala (Vancouver, Wash./Evergreen H.S.) to groundout to third base.
Byrne finished the game with three hits, three strikeouts and one walk for the win. It was Pulfrey’s 10th time this season to record a double-digit strikeout performance.
It only took three innings for the two squads to muster a run in the second game of the evening as a lead-off walk generated by Cassie Bishop (Winston, Ore./Douglass H.S.) turned into a score by way of a Cotie Howard (Springfield, Ore.) single.
The Cavs would respond with four runs in the bottom of the third inning that was highlighted by a leadoff triple by Nicole Illias (Beaverton, Ore./Valley Catholic) and by RBI singles by Garcia and Shayne Ostlund (Graham, Wash./Auburn Riverside).
Concordia would put another three-spot on the board in the sixth with the help of a pair of NCC errors.
The Beacons managed a mini-rally in their final offensive opportunity as Howard belted a three-run home run to left, but CU starter Janelle Cristofaro (Central Point, Ore./Crater H.S.) prevented further damage with a snagging the game-ending groundout to the pitcher’s mound.
Cristofaro carried a three-hitter into the seventh inning and struck out seven en route to her third win if the season. Megan McLearn (Happy Valley, Calif./West Valley H.S.) took the loss for NCC allowing 11 hits and seven runs, four of which were earned.
Concordia and Northwest Christian return to face each other for a doubleheader on Sunday in Eugene, Ore. Opening pitch is slated for 3 p.m. The Beacons will host Corban College on Saturday before its rematch with the Cavaliers.