CU freshman Taylor Copher went 5 of 10 at the plate in three games on Saturday.
Cavs Bookend the Day with Wins at SOU Tournament
BOX SCORES - Game 1: British Columbia I Game 2: Simpson I Game 3: Holy Names
MEDFORD, Ore.—Playing a triple-header to finish up action at the Southern Oregon Tournament, Concordia went 2-1 on Saturday to finish the two-day tourney with a 3-2 mark.
Concordia improved to 2-1 on the season against British Columbia with a 5-3 win in the opener. Simpson defeated the Cavaliers 7-6 in the afternoon session to even the season record between the two teams at 2-2 while Concordia responded with an 8-3 win over Holy Names in the nightcap.
Overall, Concordia returns to Portland sporting a 14-3 overall record on the season. The Cavs will travel to face NCAA DII’s Western Oregon on March 3 before opening their CCC season at home against Northwest Christian on March 8. Opening pitch is set for 2 p.m. against the Beacons at Delta Park.
British Columbia Recap
Concordia struck for three runs in the second inning with Mary Lugar doing the majority of the damage with a 2-run single through the middle. The Cavs added a single run in the top of the sixth with an RBI groundout off the bat of Kate Santos which scored Lugar from third.
The extra run quickly proved to be instrumental in the CU win as the Thunderbirds posted a 3-spot in the home half of the inning.
Brittany Meyer led off the stanza with a single through the left-side. Cassandra Dypchey immediately reached on an error in the infield which setup a 3-run homer by Alana Westerhof.
Holding a slim lead with the score 4-3, the Cavs added an insurance run in the seventh as Katie Aden drove in Caitlyn Frasier, who was pinch running for Laura Luther after Luther doubled to right.
Notching two strikeouts, CU starter Ashley Suter finished the Thunderbirds in order in the bottom of the seventh to improve her season record to 7-0.
Simpson Recap
Concordia stormed out of the gate with a pair of runs in both the first and second innings, but Simpson responded with seven runs of their own over the next four innings en route to a 7-6 victory against the Cavs.
Kate Santos led the attack early for CU with a solo homer in the bottom of the first, her fourth home run in the last three games, and returned with a sacrifice fly to center to score Jennifer Lutton.
The Redhawks got on the board with two runs in the third and tied the game in the fourth as three hits and an error led to Simpson’s third and fourth runs of the game.
The Cavaliers reestablished the lead with two unearned runs in the fifth, but the euphoria would be short lives as the first three Redhawks struck for hits in the sixth. All three baserunners would go on to score for the final 7-6 margin.
Concordia managed to place runners on second and third with two outs in the bottom of the seventh, only to see SU reliever Katie Bell record a groundout to second to end the threat.
Concordia was outhit for the first time this season as Simpson tallied 15 hits to Concordia’s 10.
Holy Names Recap
Facing the possibility of their first losing streak of the season, Concordia jumped out early against Holy Names with four runs in the first before defeating the Hawks 8-3 in the Saturday finale.
The first five Cavaliers to the plate reached base safely via a hit with Taylor Copher, Kate Santos and Laura Luther all registering an RBI in their appearances. Luther plated two with a triple to right before the Cavs plated all nine batters in the inning.
The Hawks split the difference with two runs in the fourth as Brittini Ronolo delivered a 2-run homer to center field.
Recapturing and adding to the spread, Concordia scored four more runs in the fourth with Cassidy Horner providing a 2-run single to score Copher and Santos.
The support would be all CU starter Danielle Orvella would need as the junior transfer allowed just six hits en route to the complete game win. Striking out four in the outing, Orvella improved to 4-1 on the season.
Concordia finished with a 13 to 6 advantage in hits with Copher finishing a perfect 4 for 4 at the plate.