TUCSON, Ariz. – The Concordia University softball team arrived in Tucson, Ariz., on Saturday in preparation for the start of their nine-game slate at the 2017 Tucson Invitational. The Bulldogs opened up action in Arizona on Sunday with a 13-0 win over NCAA Division III Hiram College (Ohio) before dropping a 4-2 decision to Madonna University (Mich.).
Fourth-year head coach Todd LaVelle’s squad is now 7-4 overall this season. The Bulldogs are 26-6 at the Tucson Invite under LaVelle.
“I really felt we competed well. We have some girls learning some new positions and played well in those positions,” LaVelle said. “I witnessed a lot of positives out of our girls even though we lost the second game. I think it was a great learning experience for us at this juncture of our season. We’re still learning what we all need to do in our roles on the team. We’re not satisfied and we know we need to fix some things.”
Senior AJ Wygant whirled a gem in the blowout win over Hiram. Wygant threw all five innings of the run-rule shortened contest and allowed just one hit while striking out seven.
In the second game, Concordia tried to dig out of a 3-0 hole. Maddie Fousek drove in Leah Kalkwarf with a base hit. Autumn Owens later connected for a home run. It wasn’t quite enough offense in a game that Michaela Woodward started in the circle.
LaVelle is closing in on a milestone win total. He stands at 98-61 as head coach of the Bulldogs. He averaged just over 30 wins per season in his first three years at Concordia.
Action from the Tucson Invitational continues on Monday when the Bulldogs will be back under the soon for consecutive games. Next up, Concordia will play Judson University (Ill.) at 10 a.m. CT before taking on Olivet Nazarene University (Ill.) at 12 p.m. The Bulldogs are also scheduled to play three times on Wednesday and twice on Friday.