TUCSON, Ariz. – The hot bat of Hanna Bowers and the pitching of Megan Eurich emerged as major stories on the first day of action at the 2025 Tucson Invitational for Concordia University, Nebraska Softball. In beginning an eight-game road trip in The Grand Canyon State, the Bulldogs earned wins on Sunday (March 9) over NAIA member William Penn University (Iowa), 5-2, and over NCAA Division III Franklin & Marshall College (Pa.), 9-7. Eurich collected a win and a save as part of her day.
Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad had a week off from competition before hitting the dirt late in the morning at Lincoln Park on Sunday. Concordia has won four in a row to move to 10-6.
“Part of the conversation we had was that William Penn was 6-1 against the GPAC,” Culler said. “They were definitely a quality opponent. I’ve been saying that our offense had to get better, and I really like where our offense was at today. Our discipline at the plate was really good. I like where we’re at right now.
“Softball is a game of momentum. We didn’t have the best feeling walking out of last weekend, but that win over William Penn really swung the momentum in our favor. I’m really happy about that for our team.”
As a program, the Bulldogs are appearing in Tucson for the fourth-straight year and for the 10th time in the past 12 seasons. For seniors like Eurich, this is familiar spring break territory. The Gretna native is rounding back to form while building off a near no-hitter at the Top Gun Midwest Classic. In making her eighth start of the season, Eurich limited the Statesmen to two runs on eight hits (no walks). Eurich recorded eight punch outs and polished off the complete game by coaxing a popout with two on base in the seventh.
While Eurich did her thing in the circle, Bowers scorched in the batter’s box. She enjoyed a 5-for-5 day that included a pair of doubles. She opened the scoring versus William Penn in the second with an RBI single. Fellow senior Aubrey Bruning also added an RBI double and a run-scoring triple in the triumph. Those efforts offensively, combined with Eurich’s pitching and error-free defensive play, made the Bulldogs a winner over a Statesmen squad that entered the day with a 10-4 record.
Said Culler of Bowers, “Hanna is attacking early in the count and getting rewarded for it. She’s seeing the ball really well. She bounced one off the bottom of the fence on that last hit. I thought it was a home run.”
In the capper, Concordia appeared on its way its way to a blowout victory after it built a 7-1 lead in the third. As part of the five-run third, Jennifer Katz tripled home two runs, Laycee Josoff chased in another with a triple and Jayden Fernau executed a bunt to score a run. It got sloppy the rest of the way as the Diplomats rallied back within a run (8-7) in the sixth. In response, Bowers (3-for-3 in game two) came to the rescue with an RBI double for insurance.
In the seventh, Eurich was called upon and mowed down Franklin & Marshall by striking out the side. Kaylei Denison got the win as she fired the first 5.1 innings. She allowed six runs (three earned) on six hits and five walks (four strikeouts). Both teams committed five errors. For the Diplomats, Sunday marked opening day of their 2025 season.
The Bulldogs will get back to the diamond on Monday for another two outings at the Tucson Invite. Concordia is slated to take on Viterbo University (Wis.) at 1:30 p.m. MST / 3:30 p.m. CDT and Mayville State University (N.D.) at 3:30 p.m. MST / 5:30 p.m. CDT. Live stats for games at the Tucson Invite can be found via the softball program’s GameChanger app: https://web.gc.com/teams/5odHqUgJaGdg.