LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (1-2) dropped their first game of the day to Hawaii at Hilo (2-1) by a score of 11-4 on Saturday afternoon in the Desert Stinger.
One big inning proved to be the difference as the Vulcans put six runs on the board in the sixth inning to turn a 4-4 tie into a 10-4 deficit for the Golden Bears.
All nine starters for UHH collected hits in the game while seven of Concordia's nine starters reached base as both teams showed a balanced offensive attack.
The Vulcans wasted little time getting on the scoreboard as they picked up a walk and a single to open the game before a fielder's choice put runners at the corners with one down. During the next at-bat, the runner broke for second and the throw from behind the plate ended up in center field, allowing the runner from third to score. That would be all they would get in the inning as
Linzy Heim retired the next two in a row.
The Golden Bears answered right back as
Carlie Hart lined a lead-off double down the right field line before
Nicole Thompson laid down a perfect bunt to put runners on first and third with nobody out. Hart scored just a few pitches later on a wild pitch as Thompson moved into scoring position, but CSP was unable to bring her home as the inning ended with a score of 1-1.
That would be all the scoring until UHH broke through and regained the lead in the top of the fourth. With two down and a runner on first, the Vulcans strung together back-to-back singles to bring home the go-ahead run.
Hawaii at Hilo padded the lead with two more in the fifth as they built a 4-1 lead, but Concordia answered right back with three in the bottom of the inning to tie it up. With
Jamie Fleischhacker on first and Thompson on second and two outs,
Liz Jarosz roped a double to left center to bring home Thompson before
Justine Schattner brought both Fleischhacker and Jarosz home with a double of her own to even the score.
The Vulcans grabbed the momentum right back in the sixth as they piled up five hits and three walks to go along with a pair of CSP errors to score six and go back out front 10-4. Five hitters in a row reached base with one out as a total of 12 hitters came to the plate in the inning.
Thompson finished as the lone Golden Bear to register two hits while Fleischhacker and Koncar each reached base three times with a single and a pair of walks.
Heim (1-1) took the loss in the circle for Concordia as she worked the first 5.2 innings before Schanks came in to work the final 1.1 of the game.
Concordia will be back in action this evening as they take on Concordia-Irvine at 6:30 p.m.
