CLACKAMAS, Ore.—A no-hitter from pitcher Ashley Suter highlighted another strong day of competition for the Concordia softball team at the Northwest Cup on Sunday.

Suter pitched her no-hitter in the Cavs’ first game of the day against Whitworth, leading the team to an 8-0 victory in five-innings. Concordia then came back from an early deficit in its second game of the day to beat Lewis & Clark 7-2.

With the two wins, Concordia improved to 5-7 this season. The Cavs will next travel to play a doubleheader at Linfield on Wednesday, Feb. 22 at 3:30 p.m.

Amazingly, just saying Suter pitched a no-hitter cheats the pitcher of some her dominance. Suter didn’t just not allow a hit, she struck out 11 of the 17 batters she faced, including two times in which she struck out the side in an inning. Even that, though, leaves out the fact that no Whitworth hitter got the ball out of the infield in the game.

Meanwhile, the Cavalier offense helped Suter out with an eight-run third inning. The Cavs’ Laura Luther opened the inning in style with a solo home run to right field before Tobey Varney and Kyndell Andrews gave the Cavs back-to-back hits to continue the rally. While Whitworth retired the next two CU batters, Concordia’s next seven batters reached safely to score six more runs for the Cavs. Luther, in her second at bat of the inning, doubled home two more runs before scoring the Cavs’ final run in the third off a double from Andrews.

The Cavs threatened again in the fourth, putting runners on second and third with two outs, but couldn’t manage to plate another runner in the game.

After that, Suter ended the game with three straight strikeouts in the top of the fifth.

Suter easily earned the win for her efforts, while Whitworth starter Megan Fisher picked up the loss.

The Cavaliers then capped their play at the Northwest Cup with a comeback victory over Lewis & Clark.

The Lewis & Clark Pioneers forced the comeback after they scored one run in both the first and second innings against the Cavs. The Pios’ first run came across unearned after Caitlin Basilio came home off a passed ball on the third strike against the Pios’ Moriah Lane.

The Pios then added to their lead in the second after a double from shortstop Caroline DeVincenzi plated teammate Megan Andre.

However, Concordia responded right back with a run in the bottom of the second, then tied the game with a run in the bottom of the third. The Cavs’ Tobey Varney scored both of the runs after reaching on a double in the second and a walk in the third.

Varney then started the Cavs’ five-run rally in the bottom of the fifth inning that’d seal the game for the team. Leading the inning off once again, Varney smacked a double to right field then scored off a double from teammate Jordyn Brown two batters later. Brown eventually came home herself, along with teammate Tara Baglai, off of a one-out single to left center from Mary Lugar. Laura Luther then capped the scoring with a two-RBI double to right field that scored Lugar and Jennifer Lutton.

The Cavs led 7-2 after that and Brown had no trouble getting the final six outs to seal the victory for the Cavs. Brown pitched the entire game for Concordia, earning the win, while Lewis & Clark starter Natalie Rose picked up the loss.

Offensively, Varney finished the day 2-for-3 with three runs scored, while Lutton went 3-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored. In addition, Luther and Lugar each went 2-for-4 with two RBIs, while Lugar added a run scored.

In other action Sunday:

In the opening game on field one on Sunday, British Columbia scored seven runs over the final two innings to comeback and beat Northwest Christian 11-7 after trailing 5-4 through five innings. British Columbia’s Cassandra Dpychey started the rally for the team in the sixth with a one-out walk, then came home off a two-RBI double to right center from teammate Yasmin Bains two batters later. Then in the seventh, Dpychey came through again with a two-out double to score the team’s first run in the inning, while scoring one batter later off a single from Tayla Westgard. Finally, both Westgard and Bains, who reached on her own single, capped the scoring after coming home off a would-be third-out error from Northwest Christian. For their part, the Beacons came back in the bottom of the seventh with a run, but left runners stranded on third and first, as British Columbia closed out the victory. At pitcher, British Columbia starter Jamie Randall got the win after pitching a complete game, while NCU’s Jenna Royce picked up the loss in relief.

Fresh off scoring 17 runs on Saturday, Corban picked up where it left off with another dominant offensive performance in a 12-4 win over British Columbia in their opener on Sunday. In the end, half of the Warriors’ got extra-base hits on half of their 12 hits overall in the game. Corban’s Stephanie Nippert led the power attack, going 3-for-3 with two doubles and a home run, while also recording three runs scored and five RBIs. Nippert’s second double of the day helped spur the Warriors’ key five-run second inning that initially broke open the game. Nippert’s double scored teammates Erica Fitzgerald and Liane Dehart for the team’s third and fourth runs in the innings. Nippert then scored the team’s final run in the inning off a single to right from Courtney Castronovo. Besides Nippert, Lounette Jackson finished 3-for-3 with a run scored and an RBI, while Dehart finished 2-for-4 with three runs scored. Finally, Corban starter Chelsea Schriber earned the win, while British Columbia starter Nicole Day received the loss.

The defending national-champion Oregon Tech Owls came back from an early 3-1 deficit with five runs in the top of the fifth en route to a 7-3 win over Whitworth. Oregon Tech put themselves in the early trouble after errors in the bottom of the first and fourth innings gave Whitworth three unearned runs. However, the Owls came right back with their big inning in the fifth to quickly take back the momentum with a 6-3 lead. The Owls’ Kayde Schaefer opened the scoring in the inning with a one-out, solo home run to right field. Shauna Collins then scored off a passed ball after drawing a two-out walk for the Owls. Finally, Jess Plummer capped the scoring and cleared the bases with a three-run home run to right center. Whitworth threatened again in the bottom of the fifth, loading the bases with two-outs, but Whitworth’s final batter flew out to right to end the inning. At pitcher, Oregon Tech’s Melissa Logan came on in relief for the win, while Whitworth starter Riley Fritz picked up the loss.

With three runs in the first two innings, George Fox ran out to an early lead against Northwest Christian before closing out a 4-2 win in the final game of the Northwest Cup on field one. George Fox came out strong right from the get go with their first four batters getting hits in the first. Then in the second, the Bruins’s Jenny Milton brought home two more runs with a triple to left center. The teams traded solo home runs a few innings later before the Beacons threatened to tie the game in the top of the sixth. NCU’s Chelsea Hannon plated teammate Ally Mittleider with a single to center, then moved to second as Jazzmyne Villaruel walked to load the bases with two outs. However, George Fox’s Rachel Fielder came on in relief after that and induced a routine ground out to end the inning. At pitcher, Fielder earned the save, while George Fox starter Erin Hento picked up the win. NCU starter Kalyssa Koontz, meanwhile, received the loss.

The College of Idaho Yotes closed out another high-scoring game, beating Lewis & Clark 10-7 after beating Pacific 10-8 on Saturday. Like the game against Pacific, though, The College of Idaho let their opponent back in it after leading big late in the game. On Saturday, C of I led 7-1 before allowing five runs in the bottom of the fifth as Pacific cut the C of I lead to one at 7-6. Then on Sunday, C of I led Lewis & Clark 8-2 before allowing four runs in the bottom of the fifth to bring the Pios within two at 8-6. However, in both cases, the Yotes’ offense responded right away with the Yotes scoring two runs in the top of the sixth on Sunday against Lewis & Clark. That put the team back up by four at 10-6. C of I’s Jordan Huttash helped deliver the Yotes’ response, as she hit a one-out double to center that scored teammates Kristen Haugen and Rachel Strong. Also helping close out the victory, C of I pitcher Nickayla Skinner pitched a perfect seventh inning to pick up the save. Besides Skinner, C of I starter Kayla Park earned the win, while Lewis & Clark starter Madison Hollenbeck received the loss.

In a true pitchers’ duel, Oregon Tech prevailed over George Fox 2-1. The Bruins did not help themselves either, as they left eight runners on base despite outhitting the Owls 6-4 in the game. Offensively, the Owls got all their offense with a quick two-run home run from Kayde Schaefer in the bottom of the third. Schaefer hit her home run after right fielder Sarah Coates led off the inning with an infield single. Meanwhile, the Bruins picked up their one run in the fourth when an OIT fielding error in the outfield allowed the Bruins’ Felicia Chavez to come home from third. The Bruins threatened again in the fifth with two two-out singles, but the Owls closed out the victory behind two strong innings of relief from pitcher Melissa Logan. Logan picked up the save for her performance, while Oregon Tech starter Taylor Schmidt earned the win. On the other side, George Fox starter Taylor Whitmore received the loss.

The College of Idaho closed out their stay at the Northwest Cup with a 3-2 win over Willamette behind brilliant defensive play from starting catcher Katelin Howell. Howell helped limit the damage from Willamette’s 12 hits in the game with six assists. Howell got her assists after helping pick off three Willamette runners and gunning down three Bearcat runners in steal attempts. Howell also helped provide the game’s best play when the Yotes picked off two Bearcat runners off second and third base on the same play in the top of the sixth. On the play, Howell caught Willamette’s Allison Martin jumping too far off third base for the first pick off, letting C of I shortstop Kaci Baldwin throw to second to start a run down that eventually picked the Bearcats’ Heather Winslow off of second base. The play completely changed the inning as the Bearcats had runners on second and third with no outs and a run scored before it occured. Willamette led 2-0 at that time too, but C of I tied the game with two runs in the bottom half of the sixth, following the brilliant defense. The Yotes’ Nikki Shumway then provided the heroics in the bottom of the seventh with a walk-off double that scored Jordan Huttash for the 3-2 win. In the circle, C of I’s Nickayla Skinner picked up the win, while Willamette starter Alex Watilo received the loss.

Power, power and more power helped Corban close out their trip to the Northwest Cup in style with an 11-3, five-inning win over Willamette. Warrior hitters combined for three home-runs in the game, while the team scored in every inning except the fourth. Corban’s Stephanie Nippert connected on the team’s first home run of the game in the bottom of the second, scoring three runs for the team in the process. However, Lounette Jackson one-upped Nippert with two lead-off solo home runs after that. Sandwiched between Jackson’s home runs, Willamette’s Nichole Robertson connected on her own three-run blast in the fourth to give her team its only runs of the game. Other than the fourth inning, Corban’s pitchers retired 12 of the 15 Willamette batters that they faced. Corban starter Chelsea Schriber earned the win for the Cavs, while Willamette starter Hayley Glantz picked up the loss.