ATCHISON, Kan. – The sixth inning of both ends of the doubleheader in Atchison, Kan., haunted the Concordia University Softball team on Sunday (Feb. 26). Late offensive outbursts for host Benedictine paved the way for a sweep as the Ravens won by scores of 11-3 (six innings) and 7-5. The Bulldogs owned lead heading to the bottom of the sixth of game one and were tied entering the bottom of the sixth in game two.
Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad went 1-3 on the weekend with the one victory coming at University of Saint Mary (Kan.) on Saturday. Concordia stands at 3-5 through two weekends of action.
“This was kind of a rough weekend for us,” Culler said. “We had a lot of baserunning mistakes and errors. We lost control of that first game. We had a couple things not go our way, and we just kind of let that snowball. We got on them a little bit between games about what it takes to compete. They reacted really well. We got down in the second game and clawed back. That was good to see. We’re learning a lot about this team. We just have some things to clean up.”
The Bulldogs looked like they might just follow pitcher Jerzi Rowe to a victory in game one when they led 3-2 with five-and-a-half innings complete. Zoie Isom had just given Concordia the one-run advantage with an RBI double that scored Taylor Glause in the top of the sixth. However, the bottom half turned into a nightmare as Benedictine scored nine times on six hits, two walks and an error. A Kassidy James RBI single made it 11-3 and enacted the eight-run rule. Rowe pitched 5.1 strong innings before running into trouble.
On the positive side, the Bulldogs fought back from a 5-0 hole in game two and eventually tied it, 5-5, in the sixth when Kylie Shottenkirk singled and came around to score on a wild pitch. Run scoring hits during Concordia’s rally were delivered by Julia Van Wey (sac bunt), Hanna Bowers (double) and Isom (single). The Ravens regained the lead in the bottom of the sixth when Megan Medhus singled in two runs off Bulldog relief pitcher Jessie Bestenlehner. Concordia was then retired 1-2-3 in the top of the seventh as Benedictine (4-4) earned the sweep.
Said Culler, “We’re getting there. There’s a lot of hope for this team … Jessie did a nice job. We’ve been wanting to get her in a game. We also had Jayden Fernau get her first college hit. There are a lot of good things happening. Our young kids are contributing.”
There were four Bulldog batters that recorded multiple hits on the day: Bowers (3-for-7), Isom (2-for-5), Shottenkirk (2-for-5) and Glause (2-for-6). Bowers doubled twice while Isom drove in a pair of runs. In the circle, Megan Eurich fired the first three innings of game two before being relieved for the freshman Bestenlehner, who made her Concordia debut. Eurich got a no decision, keeping her season pitching record at 3-0.
The 2023 season will continue next Friday and Saturday (March 3-4) with the Friends University Invitational in Wichita, Kan. On day one of the invite, Concordia will play Bethany College (Kan.) at 4 p.m. CT and Dakota State University (S.D.) at 6 p.m. The Tucson Invitational (March 7-10) is also quickly approaching.