SIOUX CITY, Iowa – A stretch of nine-straight days without a game didn’t phase the Concordia University Softball team. Camry Moore and Jerzi Rowe both put together stellar complete game pitching performances on Friday (April 22) as the Bulldogs captured a pair of road wins, 5-1 and 7-2, over Briar Cliff in Sioux City, Iowa. Taylor Glause and Caitlyn McGarvie spurred the offensive attack with four hits apiece and Grace Boganowski drove in four runs on the day.
The results on Friday were significant as Concordia aims to lock up a spot in the GPAC tournament. Head Coach Tatum Edwards’ squad earned a second GPAC doubleheader sweep this season and moved to 21-19 overall (9-9 GPAC).
“On both sides of the ball, we did a really good job,” Edwards said. “Grace Boganowski has stepped up and has really taken the opportunity and ran with it. She hit the ball really well and made some great defensive plays at shortstop. Camry pitched really well and we scored a lot of runs with two outs. It’s a dagger when you’re scoring with two outs. It just hurts a little bit more … Jerzi pitched really well. It was all good softball. I hope we take this and we run with it the next couple games.”
There just aren’t adequate adjectives to describe Moore’s dominance. She’s been the best and most consistent pitcher in the GPAC in 2022. On Friday, the Crete High School product allowed one run on four hits while collecting five strikeouts. She got plenty of run support in game one thanks to the Bulldogs tallying one run in the second, two in the third, one in the sixth and one in the seventh.
As mentioned by Edwards, Boganowski has capitalized on her opportunity. She went 2-for-3 with a triple and two RBIs in the first game on Friday. She also went 1-for-3 with two RBIs in the second game. With her help, Concordia never faced a deficit the entire day.
Seven Bulldogs tallied two or more hits on Friday. In addition to the four hits each from Glause and McGarvie and three hits from Boganowski, Kylie Shottenkirk and Julia Van Wey contributed three hits apiece. In game two, Concordia took control of the contest by pushing across four runs in the fourth inning. It owned a 7-0 lead before the Chargers managed to score twice in the seventh.
Those tallies were too little too late for Briar Cliff (17-16, 7-7 GPAC), which was shut down by Rowe. The Gretna, Neb., native scattered nine hits over her seven innings and allowed only one earned run while fanning six hitters. As the star at the plate in game two, Glause went 3-for-4 with two RBIs.
The recent break seemed to be a nice refresher for the Bulldogs. Said Edwards, “I think it was good for us to reset a little bit. It’s kind of weird to get a break like that in-season but they were excited to play. They came out focused on themselves and the preparation we’ve put into practice the last couple days. Everyone was excited to be at the field today. We have nothing to lose. Hopefully we can take that into the next game that we have.”
Moore owns a career pitching record of 52-24 with a program record low ERA of 1.94. Her ERA this season within conference games only is a microscopic 0.86.
The Bulldogs will be back in action on Saturday for a doubleheader at Mount Marty (24-10, 12-4 GPAC). First pitch from Yankton, S.D., is set for 1 p.m. CT. Led by star Elliot Burns, the Lancers have broken school single season records for overall wins and conference wins.