SALINA, Kan. – After building a 5-1 lead in the first game of Sunday’s (Feb. 18) doubleheader at Kansas Wesleyan University, the Concordia University softball team faltered the rest of the day while being swept by the host Coyotes in run-rule shortened contests. The Bulldogs fell by a 15-7 score in game 1 and then by an 8-0 final in game 2 during their stay on a windy day at Bill Burke Park.
Fifth-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad has finished four-game weekend trip on the road against members of the Kansas Collegiate Athletic Conference. Concordia also split a twin bill at Tabor College on Saturday.
There may be growing pains at times for a young Bulldog lineup that collected 12 hits in Sunday’s first game. The bats then went silent in game 2, getting held to two hits. Concordia’s offensive attack was sparked by Hhana Haro, Kenna Heath and Tori Homolka, who each notched three hits in the opener. Heath drove in a pair of runs with a two-run single in the second inning. After the Bulldogs closed to within 8-7 in the top of the fifth, Kansas Wesleyan (4-3) ended the game early by exploding for three runs in the fifth and four in the sixth.
Baily Clear and Grace Bernhardt got the starts in the circle for Concordia. They both pitched complete games while being tagged with losses. Taylor LaGrange burned the Bulldogs with a 4-for-5, five-RBI performance in game 1. In game 2, three different Coyotes recorded exactly two hits.
Kansas Wesleyan got Concordia back for a doubleheader sweep that went the other way in April 2017. The Coyotes were a national tournament qualifier last season.
The tour of KCAC schools will continue next week with a trip to Sterling College (Feb. 23) and to Bethany College (Feb. 24) for doubleheaders both days. Those contests will lead into the team’s spring break trip to Tucson, Ariz.