Baldovino no-hits Beacons in CU sweep
PORTLAND, Ore. – Posting a no hitter in the opener, Concordia University's
Lucy Baldovino picked up both wins in a Saturday doubleheader at Delta Park.
Scoring the first 12 runs of the doubleheader, the Concordia swept Northwest Christian 8-0, 6-4 to complete a 4-0 weekend record.
Concordia (28-10, 9-3 Cascade Collegiate Conference) tallied 25 hits across the two games and never trailed, breaking NCU's (9-23, 6-8 CCC) brief two-game win streak.
The Cavaliers next play at Southern Oregon in a doubleheader scheduled for a 2 p.m. start on April 3. The Beacons host College of Idaho at 2 p.m. the same day.
Game 1 Recap: Concordia 8, Northwest Christian 0 (6 innings)
Striking out nine batters,
Lucy Baldovino improved to 13-2 on the season in a 6-inning win in the morning game against Northwest Christian.
Not giving up a walk or a hit, Baldovino faced the minimum number of batters, and the only Beacon runner to reach base on an error was tagged out in a double play moments later.
Concordia scored four runs in the second and three more in the fourth to setup a walk-off win. With two outs and the bases loaded
Meghan Luebbert came home on a wild pitch to force the eight-run rule.
Luebbert had five RBI in the game, as she homered in the second to drive in
Jamie Martin and
Mariah Jimenez and also doubled in the fourth inning to bring home Martin and
Sam Owirka.
Game 2: Concordia 6, Northwest Christian 4
Concordia escaped with a 6-4 win in the second half of the series from
Taylor Copher's walk-off homer to left field with two outs in the bottom of the seventh.
The Cavs had a chance to end the game in five after scoring four runs in the inning and loading the bases, but NCU got the crucial third out to extend the contest.
The Beacons immediately tied the game in the top of the sixth when Parker Bonife homered over the left wall with the bases loaded. The Beacons set up the Bonife blast with back-to-back bunt singles to start the inning followed a bloop single to right by Ashlee Cole.
After giving up the tying runs in the sixth, CU reliever
Lucy Baldovino sent the Beacons down in order in the seventh.
Preventing extra innings, Copher connected on her third home run of the season with a two-out blast to left with
Kate Santos on board for the final score.
Pitching the final four innings, Baldovino earned the win to move her season record to 14-2. Boucher did not give up a run while allowing three hits and striking out three.