Cocnordia's Danielle Pulfrey pitched an 11-inning shutout against the Yotes on Friday.
Cavs Split with Yotes in Conference Home Opener
PORTLAND, Ore.—In contrasting games, Concordia and The College of Idaho split a Cascade Collegiate Conference doubleheader with CU picking up a 1-0 win in 11 innings in the opener while C of I dropping the Cavs 9-3 in the nightcap in softball action at Delta Park on Friday afternoon.
Concordia’s (15-5, 2-4 CCC) Danielle Pulfrey and College of Idaho’s (13-10, 5-1 CCC) Jody Zillner matched each other frame for frame in the opener with each pitcher tallying 13 strikeouts against six hits.
After being shutout for 10 innings, the Cavs finally broke through with a one-out double by Denise Benedict followed by a single by Kayla Vickaryous to the shortstop. Not being able to move to third on the previous base hit, Benedict was able to advance in the next at bat via a passed ball, setting up a sacrifice fly to centerfield by Nicole Illias to end the game with the score 1-0.
C of I generated a runner at third twice in the game before the decisive run in the bottom of the 11th. In the sixth inning, the Yotes had runners on first and third before Pulfrey got out of the inning with a non-swinging strikeout versus Daniyelle Villyard.
In the eighth, Donnae Carroll led off the inning by reaching first on a passed ball after a strikeout. Later in the frame, Heather Dixon connected on a two-out single to right field to advance Carroll, but after an error by CU rightfielder Robin Gawlista allowed the runner to advance, Carroll would be thrown out at the plate by Gawlista’s throw in to second base where Tina Garcia relayed the ball to an awaiting Nicole Illias at the dish.
Prior to the game-winning run, the Cavaliers enjoyed just one runner in scoring position with Janelle Cristofaro leading off the fifth with a single to left-center field and advancing on a successful sacrifice bunt by Samantha Daline.
In the nightcap, the Yotes held just a 6-to-5 advantage in hits over the Cavs but took advantage of eight fielding errors by the home team to score eight unearned runs en route to the 9-3 win.
After taking four extra innings to score a single run in the first contest, C of I plated three runners in the top of the first while CU sent two runners home for a 3-2 score through one.
C of I scored a single run in the second and three more in the third for a 7-2 lead. With Brooke Judy giving the Yotes its second straight quality start, the lead would be more than enough as Judy would allow just one more run the rest of the way to pick up the win.
Stacy Smith led C of I at the plate with a 2-for-4 performance which included two runs and two RBI. Cristofaro drove in two runs for the Cavs after going 1-for-2.
Concordia will conclude its week of competition on Saturday by hosting Eastern Washington at Delta Park with an 11 a.m. start while C of I will travel to face Corban College.