Bunt Single Lifts Eagles Past Pioneers

Game One     Game Two 

(3/20/08 - Softball) IRVINE - Freshman OF Samantha Perez dropped down a perfect bunt for the game-winning hit, allowing #18-ranked Concordia to complete a doubleheader sweep of visiting MidAmerica Nazarene (Kan.) with a pair of 2-1 wins.

Perez finished her day 3-for-6, but her last effort of the day proved the most crucial as the Eagles were forced into extra innings after a 1-1 stalemate through the standard seven inning affair.

The Pioneers were held scoreless in their half of the inning, sending Lauren Hastings out to second base per the rules of the international tiebreaker. Alicia Leto laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt to move Hastings to third, but Ashley Alvarez saw her line drive go directly to left fielder Kassy Cole for the second out. After fouling off the first pitch, Perez pushed the ball to just the right spot on the left side of the diamond to allow Hastings to hurry home inside the tag.

The late-inning dramatics concluded a day that saw junior righthanders Sarah Frudakis (8-2) and Rachel Reekstin (7-5) provide solid work in the circle. Frudakis picked up the win in the opener, allowing a run on five hits and two walks while striking out six. Reekstin bounced back after a pair of rough outings to allow one fewer hit than her teammate while punching out a season-best seven opponents.

Perez gave the Eagles the lead in game one with a one-out double in the 3rd inning, but the Pioneers quickly tied things up as Jara Mori homered to lead off the 4th inning. However, the Eagles came right back to regain the lead for good, getting a RBI-single from Tiana King with two outs in the bottom of the stanza.

MidAmerica Nazarene (3-14) grabbed the early lead in game two thanks to a RBI-single by Darreika Dick after leadoff batter Kassy Cole had walked and moved to second on a passed ball. It took until the 5th inning for the Eagles to provide the game-tying rally, but an error allowed Shannon Walton to score after drawing a leadoff walk.

Michelle Carter finished the day 2-for-5 with a run scored while Caitlyn Senkbeil also had a pair of hits. Mori did the majority of the offensive damage for the Pioneers, finishing 4-for-5 with the home run while Dick and Sylina Santell each had two hits.

Concordia (27-10) heads across Orange County on Wednesday, March 26 for a pair of games in the SunWest Tournament hosted by Chapman University. The Eagles start with a single game against Wellesley (Mass.) at 3:30 p.m., then finish their set of games with one contest against Williams (Mass.) at 5:45 p.m.