CU's Danielle Pulfrey leads the CCC with 187 strikeouts.
Pulfrey Fans 27 in Concordia Sweep of Corban
PORTLAND, Ore.—Picking up a pair of wins while striking out 27 batters on the day, Concordia junior Danielle Pulfrey paced the Cavaliers to a Cascade Collegiate Conference sweep against Corban College (1-0, 5-3) on Tuesday afternoon at Delta Park.
With the results, Concordia improved to 21-5 on the year and 8-4 in CCC play while Corban fell to 18-16 overall and 6-6 in league action.
Behind eight shutout innings from Pulfrey in the opener, the Cavs broke through in the home half of the extra inning for the 1-0 walk-off win. CU shortstop Denise Benedict scooted a ball into shallow left field for a one-out single and would advance to second on a groundout to the pitcher off the bat of pinch hitter Tara Baglai. Samantha Daline followed with a single to left to score Benedict for the game’s lone run.
Pulfrey held the Warriors to two hits in the contest while striking out 15. Erin Sailors took the loss going 7.2 innings while scattering five hits and striking out 13 Cavaliers.
The Cavaliers managed to get a runner to third in the first, second, third and seventh innings. The Cavs nearly ended it in the seventh with a Robin Gawlista getting tagged out while charging home following a passed ball behind Corban catcher Jessica Pierce.
Jennifer Koeller advanced the furthest for the Warriors, using a fielder’s choice to reach first, a stolen base to get to second and a passed ball to third, but was stranded at the corner with a Pulfrey strikeout to Karlee Sisler to end the opening frame. Megan Gaylord notched both Corban hits with a single to left in the third and a single through the left side in the fifth.
In the nightcap, both teams wasted little time getting on the board with each squad recording a single run in the first. Jennifer Kollaer singled in leadoff hitter Jessie Jones in the top of the first for the Warriors while Benedict smacked a double to left center to plate CU leadoff hitter Nicole Illias in the home half of the stanza.
Corban retook the lead in the top of the second with a walk to Twyla Baggarley turning into a score by way of a bases-loaded single by Jones. Coming into the game in a relief role, Pulfrey got the Cavs out of the jam with a popup and a grounder to second to limit the damage.
Pushing their lead to 3-1, Jones scored again for Corban by darting home on a passed ball following a third strike to Kollaer. Jones started the sequence with a bunt single and advanced to second on a Jessica Schell grounder and to third on another passed ball.
With the help from two Corban errors, the Cavaliers managed to square the game at 3-3 with runs by Gawlista and Ashley Watson, who was pinch running for Shalina Morris.
After Pulfrey struck out the side in the top of the fifth, the CU offense rewarded their ace with another two runs to stake a 5-3 lead. Kayla Vickaryous opened the inning by reaching via a fielding error and was quickly escorted home by a Benedict double to left-center. Benedict would round the bases three at-bats later with a double off the bat of Gawlista.
The Warriors mounted one last rally in the top of the seventh by loading the bases with two outs. After two strikeouts to open the frame, the Warriors registered two singles and a walk before Pulfrey ended the second game with her 12th strikeout of the game.
Corban outhit the Cavs 11-7 in the second game but was charged with five fielding errors. Brittany Wagner took the loss after allowing five hits and five runs, two of which were earned.
Concordia returns to action by hosting Oregon Tech on Friday, April 17 at Delta Park. Opening pitch is set for 2 p.m.