Concordia's Kate Santos hit two home runs in the first game of the doubleheader on Saturday, giving her 14 home runs this season, one home run off first-team NAIA All-American Stephanie Nippert of Corban for the CCC lead.
Santos' Two Home Runs Lead Cavs to Sweep of EOU
BOX SCORES - GAME 1 - GAME 2
PORTLAND—Sophomore Kate Santos hit two home runs to up her season total to 14 and the Concordia softball team got another pair of solid performances from pitchers Ashley Suter and Danielle Orvella as the Cavs swept Eastern Oregon in a doubleheader Saturday.
Santos hit both of her home runs in the first game of the doubleheader, leading Concordia to an 8-0 win in five innings. In addition, Suter pitched all five innings of the first game to complete her third straight shutout in her last three starts. Suter has now not given up a run in her past 23 innings pitched, and has not given up an earned run in 30.1 straight innings. Orvella, meanwhile, pitched all seven innings of the second game for the Cavs and held the Mountaineers to only one run in a 2-1 CU win.
Concordia improved to 24-9 overall and 10-4 in the CCC with the wins, while Eastern Oregon fell to 8-16 overall and 1-11 in the CCC. The 24 wins for the Cavs match the team's total from last season.
The Cavs will return to action Tuesday, March 26 with the first of two non-conference doubleheaders in Canada. The Cavs will open the trip to Canada with a doubleheader against NCAA Division II Simon Fraser on Tuesday, before playing a doubleheader against the University of British Columbia Wednesday. Eastern Oregon, meanwhile, will return to action Thursday, March 28, with a non-conference doubleheader at the University of Great Falls.
Game 1--Concordia 8, Eastern Oregon 0
Kate Santos hit two home runs in the first game of the Cavs’ doubleheader against Eastern Oregon Saturday, leading the Cavs’ to an 8-0, five-inning win.
Santos’ two home runs gave the sophomore her third two-home-run game of the season, and gave her seven home runs in the previous eight games. Santos’ two home runs also gave the Cavs 14 home runs this season, one behind first-team NAIA All-American Stephanie Nippert of Corban for the CCC lead.
Santos’ first home run opened the scoring for the Cavs as she hit a solo shot with one out in the bottom of the third. Santo then put the Cavs up 5-0 with her second home run, a two-run shot with one out in the bottom of the fourth.
Santos’ second home run was part of a six-run bottom of the fourth that gave the Cavs the eight runs they needed to mercy the Mountaineers in five. Jennifer Lutton plated the first run of the inning for the Cavs with a well-executed squeeze play that scored Katie Aden. Santos then followed with her second home run, scoring Tobey Varney on the play, before Cassidy Horner plated Taylor Copher for the fourth run of the game with a sacrifice fly to left. Robin Gawlista then concluded the scoring in the inning with a two-RBI single to center that scored Laura Luther and Mary Lugar.
Meanwhile, while the Cavs’ offense hummed, senior ace Ashley Suter held the Mountaineers to just two hits in the game, while striking out six. The two hits against Suter were bloop singles to the outfield, too, and the Mountaineers never got a runner past first in the game.
Suter’s dominance helped the Cavs outhit the Mountaineers 11-2 in the game as the Cavs went 11-for-22 as a team. Santos led the Cavs from the plate, of course, going 2-for-3 with two runs scored and three runs batted in. Gawlista also went 2-for-3 from the plate with two runs batted in, while Copher went 2-for-3 with two runs scored.
On the flip side, Tailor Snow picked up the loss for the Mountaineers after pitching the first 3.1 innings of the game for her team.
Game 2—Concordia 2, Eastern Oregon 1
The Cavs offense couldn’t find the same rhythm in the second game Saturday, but the team got another steady game from CU starter Danielle Orvella, who led the Cavs to a 2-1 win in the nightcap.
Orvella, who had pitched her third shutout of the season against The College of Idaho on Friday, held the Mountaineers to just one run scored over seven innings pitched.
The Mountaineers’ one run came in the top of the fourth with the Cavs already up 2-0, and broke a streak of 25.2 straight shutout innings for the Cavs.
The Mountaineers’ Cassie Wendt scored the run for the team after she led off the fourth with a double down the right-field line. The Mountaineers’ Stephanie Maestretti led off the top of the fifth with a double, too, but Orvella struck out two of the Mountaineers’ next three batters to preserve the Cavs’ 2-1 lead.
The Cavs, meanwhile, took the lead with two runs in the bottom of the second. Robin Gawlista scored the first run of the inning for the Cavs as she came home on one-out triple to right-center field from Katie Aden. Aden then came home herself during the next at bat as Tobey Varney hit a sacrifice fly to left.
The Cavs did not get much offense outside of the second, though, as Eastern Oregon outhit the Cavs in the game, 6-4. Aden led the Cavs from the plate in the game as she went 2-for-2 with a run scored and a run batted in.
Orvella also outdueled the Mountaineers’ Alex Hillmick to pick up her ninth win of the season.