CU's Becca Gawlista went 5-for-5 with a pair of walks in the doubleheader on Saturday.
Concordia Nears CCC Clincher with C of I Sweep
BOX SCORES: GAME 1 : GAME 2
PORTLAND, Ore.— A day after allowing just seven hits in a pair of conference games, Concordia gave up just four hits to sweep The College of Idaho (5-0, 10-2) in softball action at Delta Park on Saturday.
With the wins, Concordia improved to 26-2 on the season and 15-1 in Cascade Collegiate Conference contests. C of I fell to 11-17 overall and 7-9 in league play. With eight games remaining, Concordia currently holds a six-game lead for first place in the CCC over Oregon Tech. The Cavaliers conclude their regular season with a road series against Southern Oregon and Oregon Tech, the league’s second and third-place teams, on April 23-24, before hosting the same two clubs the following week.
College of Idaho currently sits in fifth place in the conference standings, a game behind Corban College and a game and a half behind Southern Oregon for the third and final CCC Tournament spot. The Yotes next take the field on April 20 when they host Eastern Oregon in Caldwell, Idaho.
Renee Santos, fresh off a complete-game three hitter against Eastern Oregon on Friday, returned to hold the Coyotes to a single hit in her second straight shutout.
Two C of I players reached in the second as Caylin LePire was hit by a pitch and Sammy Dodge drew a walk before a popup ended the inning. Amy Rhoades opened the fifth by reaching on an error at shortstop and Nikki Shumway singled in the sixth for the Yotes, but both runners were stranded as Santos registered a strikeout to end both frames. LePire was the only runner to reach scoring position for C of I in the game.
Santos struck out 16 in her outing as she faced four batters over the minimum en route to her 11th win of the season.
Opening up the second inning, Becca Gawlista connected on a home run to left center to give the Cavs a 1-0 lead. With runners on first and second, Kayla Vickaryous punched a triple down the left-field line for a pair of RBI and was immediately sent home on a single off the bat of Mallory Callahan to finish a four-run second inning.
Cameron Way provided the final punch for CU with a solo shot to lead off the fifth. Concordia outhit C of I 10-1 in the game with Gawlista and Vickaryous leading the way with three-hit games.
The Cavaliers started the second game of the day with a three-run first which would prove to be all the team needed in the 10-2 final.
Vickaryous led off by reaching on an infield error and quickly found herself on third after stealing a base and taking an extra base on a throwing error on CI’s catcher. Callahan followed with an RBI double to left and traveled home two batter later as Paz smashed a home run to center.
The Coyotes responded in the third with two runs on three hits. Jordan Huttash initiated the rally with a double to right center and advanced to third on a single from Shumway. After a grounder to third for the first out, Daniyelle Villyard drove the ball down the left-field line to plate the two C of I scores.
CU starter Danielle Pulfrey would get out of the inning with a grounder to second and a pop up and would continue to retire the next six batters for the five-inning win.
Pulfrey issued a walk in both the first and the second innings but did not allow a hit outside of the third stanza. Pulfrey struck out three in the outing for her CCC-leading 13th win of the season.
The Cavs scored three more in the bottom of the third and two each in the fourth and the fifth. After loading the bases on three straight walks to open the fifth, Tina Garcia hit a sacrifice fly to score Paz and Kyndell Andrews ended the game with a single through the middle to score Way.
Callahan, Garcia and Andrews all recorded three hits in the game for CU as the Cavs outhit the Yotes 14-3. Callahan finished the day going 5-of-9 while Gawlista reached in all seven plate appearance, going 5-of-5 with two walks in the doubleheader.