TOURNAMENT HEADQUARTERS
PORTLAND, Ore.—On a day with two elimination games, Saint Xavier (Ill.) and Corban (Ore.) emerged as the final two teams in the Concordia (Ore.) Bracket of the NAIA National Championship Opening Round at Delta Park Tuesday, setting the teams up to play for a spot at the final site of the NAIA Softball National Championships tomorrow, May 15.
The teams actually opened the second day of the Concordia (Ore.) Bracket against each other after both won their first games in the NAIA Opening Round Monday. The Cougars (48-6) beat the Warriors (42-14) in that early game behind a two-hit, shutout performance from pitcher Megan Nonnemacher. That win put the Cougars into the final day of the Opening Round, while pushing Corban to the loser bracket.
There, Corban would meet third-seeded Concordia (35-23), after the Cavs eliminated fourth-seeded MidAmerica Nazarene (28-15) with an 11-4 victory earlier in the day. The Warriors had better luck against the Cavs than they did against the Cougars, as they beat Concordia 6-1 behind four home runs. The win was the Warriors sixth in seven games against the Cavs this season, with three of the six victories coming in the postseason.
The Cougars and the Warriors will play at 11 a.m. tomorrow. If the Cougars win, then they’ll advance to the final site of the NAIA National Championships. However, if the Warriors win, then the teams will play a winner-takes-all game at 1:30 p.m.
Game 3—Saint Xavier 2, Corban 0 -- BOX SCORE
Coming off recording 12 strikeouts in only five innings against MidAmerica Nazarene Monday, Saint Xavier’s Megan Nonnemacher put in another dominant performance from the circle Tuesday, holding the vaunted Warriors’ offense to just two hits while leading her team to a 2-0 victory.
The shutout performance was Nonnemacher’s 10th shutout of the season, and came as she fanned another 12 batters during the game. Nonnemacher now has 24 total strikeouts in only 12 innings pitched within the Concordia (Ore.) Bracket of the NAIA Opening Round.
Nonnemacher was at her best in the top of the fifth when, with a 2-0 lead, she struck out three straight Corban batters, including NAIA career home run leader Stephanie Nippert, with a runner on third. Chynna Sandhop had led off the top of the fifth with a triple for the Warriors, but got stranded thanks to Nonnemacher.
That protected the Cougars’ lead, which they got with two runs in the bottom of the second. Ariel Hinton and Holly Hilden drew back-to-back walks to lead off the Cougars in the inning, before moving to third and second, respectively on a sacrifice bunt from Ashley Sullivan. From there, Hinton scored on a single from Shannon Lauret, while Hilden scored on a single from Megan James one batter later.
The Cougars did not score in any other inning during the game, but the two runs were more than enough for Nonnemacher.
Offensively, the Cougars outhit the Warriors 6-2 with Lauret and James leading the way as each went 2-for-3 with an RBI. On the flip side, no Warrior batter had more than one hit in the game, though catcher Rachel Conard reached base twice, first drawing a walk in the top of the second, then a hit-by-pitch in the top of the fourth.
Game 4—Concordia 11, MidAmerica Nazarene -- BOX SCORE
The Cavaliers trailed 1-0 heading into the bottom of the fifth against MidAmerica Nazarene Tuesday, but scored eight runs in the bottom of the fifth to lead them to an 11-4 victory.
Mary Lugar started the Cavs’ rally in the fifth with a solo home run that curled just inside the left-field foul pole. Lugar’s solo home run was her third of the tournament after she hit two against Corban on Monday. Lugar’s three home runs in the Cavs’ first two games at the NAIA Opening Round also matched her total over 49 regular season games.
Lugar’s home run was only the start of the fifth inning for the Cavs, though, as Katie Aden put the Cavs ahead, 2-1, three batters later with an RBI infield single that scored Robin Gawlista. The Cavs then loaded the bases for Laura Luther, who plated two more runs for the Cavs on a double to right-center field. Cassidy Horner then followed with an RBI single to right that put the Cavs up 5-1, and moved Luther to third. From there, Luther scored on a passed ball during the next at bat, before Kyndell Andrews capped the Cavs’ rally with a home run over the right-center field wall. Andrews’ home run gave the Cavs an 8-1 lead, and was the team’s eighth hit of the inning after the team only had one hit over the first four innings.
The Pioneers did not give in after going down 8-1, though, as Tianna George came back with a three-run home run in the top of the sixth to cut the Cavs’ lead to four at 8-4. The Pioneers got runners on the corners with only one out after George’s home run, too, but CU relief pitcher Danielle Orvella struck out Katie Williams on a nasty change-up for the second out, then caught a line drive for the third out of the inning.
The Cavs then matched the Pioneers with three runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, going back up by seven at 11-4. Luther, Orvella and Taylor Copher all brought in runs for the Cavs in the inning.
Overall, the Cavs outhit the Pioneers 12-8, as the team’s top four batters in the lineup—Tobey Varney, Aden, Copher and Luther—all finished with two hits in the game. Aden and Copher also scored two runs in the game along with Gawlista, while Luther led all Cavaliers with three runs batted in.
On the flip side, George led the Pioneers offensively, finishing 2-for-3 from the plate with two runs scored and three runs batted in.
Game 5—Corban 6, Concordia 1 -- BOX SCORE
Playing their seventh game against each other this season, Corban got the better of the Cavs again (their sixth victory in their seven games against the Cavs), beating the Cavs 6-1 thanks to four home runs in the game.
Who else but NAIA career home run leader Stephanie Nippert started the Warriors’ power display against the Cavs, as she led off the bottom of the first with a solo home run that put the Warriors up early. The Cavs have generally pitched around Nippert this season, and Nippert’s solo home run to lead off the bottom of the first against the Cavs reminded everybody why. For the season, Nippert only has seven at bats in her seven games against the Cavs, but has gone 4-for-7 with four home runs in those seven at bats.
Brittany Chestnut, meanwhile, followed Nippert’s home run with a triple to right-center field, and came home on a double steal for the Warriors’ second run in the first inning a few batters later.
The Cavs settled down after the first, though, and narrowed the gap to 2-1 with a run in the top of the third. Laura Luther plated Tobey Varney for the Cavs run in the third on a single to center field.
The Warriors’ power took over from there, however, as Lounette Jackson answered the Cavs’ run in the top of the third with a solo home run in the bottom of the inning that put the Warriors back up by two at 3-1. Courtney Castronovo then followed with two home runs of her own between the fifth and sixth innings, putting the Warriors up 6-1.
The Cavs, meanwhile, had chances of their own as they put runners in scoring position in each of the first five innings of the game, but the Warriors made the plays to keep the Cavs off the scoreboard. Consequently, the Cavs could not make much of their 10 hits in the game, which was only one less than Corban’s 11 hits in the game.
Individually, Concordia’s Taylor Copher, Kyndell Andrews and Mary Lugar, and Corban’s Castronovo and Chynna Sandhop led all players with two hits in the game. Castronovo also tied Nippert with two runs in the game to lead all players, and also led all players with three runs batted in.
Meanwhile, Corban starting pitcher Amy Greenough out-dueled Ashley Suter for the win from the circle.