SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Concordia University Softball team waited until the seventh inning of both ends of Tuesday (April 12) afternoon’s doubleheader before cracking the scoreboard. In action at Jensen Softball Complex in Sioux City, Iowa, host Morningside won a nine-inning pitcher’s duel, 2-1, in game one before completing the sweep with a 7-3 victory in game two. Bulldog ace Camry Moore fired eight strong innings and drove in the team’s only run in game one.
Coming into play, Head Coach Tatum Edwards’ squad had split each of its previous five doubleheaders. Concordia slipped to 19-19 overall and to 7-9 in conference play.
“The first game we had some hard hits to the outfield, but they were right at people,” Edwards said. “We couldn’t get much to drop for us. Defensively, we made some plays to save run from scoring in the bottom of the seventh. That was great to see. Offensively, we were making some adjustments, but couldn’t get anything to land or get hits when we needed to.”
Moore went head-to-head with Katherine Wurtz as pitching counterparts in game one. The only player who did much damage off of Moore was First Team All-GPAC slugger Morgan Nixon, who belted a solo homer in the second and then a walk-off blast leading off the bottom of the ninth. Moore spent most of the day inducing ground ball outs – 17 to be exact – in her typical stellar outing. She allowed five hits and one walk while striking out two.
The second game got away from the Bulldogs in the fourth inning when Morningside struck for five runs. After six innings, the Mustangs were in control with a 7-0 lead. A bright spot for Concordia was the top of the seventh that saw it string together some of its best at bats of the day. Taylor Glause singled and scored on Grace Boganowski’s RBI triple. Aubrey Bruning also earned credit for an RBI on a play that resulted in an error and Moore singled home one more run.
The Morningside pitching duo of Wurtz and Grace Buffington combined to limit Concordia to one earned run on 10 hits in 16 innings. As part of Nixon’s monster day, she also went 2-for-4 with an RBI in game two. A team that was just outside of the most recent NAIA coaches’ top 25, the Mustangs (18-12, 6-6 GPAC) picked up some needed momentum after entering the day having lost five of their last six.
In game two, Jerzi Rowe (3 IP) and Megan Eurich (3 IP) split the pitching duties for the Bulldogs. Rowe was tagged with the loss after she allowed five earned runs on eight hits. Rowe managed to hold Morningside off the scoreboard for the game’s first two innings.
The Bulldogs will have the remainder of Holy Week off from competition. Next up on the schedule will be another trip to Sioux City where Concordia will take on Briar Cliff (17-12, 7-5 GPAC) for a doubleheader on April 22. Only six games remain on the regular season slate.