Softball walks off to a pair of NACC wins over Benedictine

MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Softball team has made a habit of winning games with thrilling finishes over the past week. The Falcons continued that trend Saturday with a pair of walkoff wins against Benedictine University, 3-2 in the opener and 6-5 in game two, moving them to second place in the NACC.

The opening game saw freshman Christine Sharon (Cornell, Mich.) belt a two-run home run in the bottom of the seventh, erasing a 2-1 deficit, for the 3-2 win. The home run was Sharon's first career roundtripper and also scored sophomore Alexis Holsten (Oshkosh, Wis.), who doubled earlier in the inning.

While it didn't seem possible after the thriller in the opener, game two upstaged game one as the Falcons erased a 5-1 deficit heading into their final at bat. Freshman Andrea Thiry (Green Bay, Wis.) completed the rally with an RBI single up the middle, scoring sophomore Carly Sobrilsky (Brookfield, Wis.), who just beat the tag at the plate, giving the Falcons the much-needed sweep. Benedictine entered the day in second place in the NACC with just two league losses, but left trailing CUW by a game.

Click here for a postgame interview with Sharon and Thiry.

The five-run seventh in game two came right after the Eagles scored five runs in the top half of the inning. The Falcons held a 1-0 lead in the second contest before Benedictine scored five times, thanks to a couple of CUW errors and some timely hits.

The Eagles defense was even more shaky in the bottom half of the seventh as they committed four errors in helping the Falcons comeback efforts. Katie McKay was the pitcher of record for Benedictine in game two, yielding five runs, all unearned.

Junior Melissa Perkins (Park Forest, Ill.) got the win in both games, throwing a complete game in the opener and tossing one inning of relief in game two. Perkins gave up two runs in game one, both on solo home runs, while striking out one and walking one. She then came on with the bases loaded in game two and finished with a line of one inning pitched, one unearned run allowed and no walks or strikeouts.

Freshman Emily Brekke (Wateford, Wis.) was the starter in game two and pitched very well. Brekke took a shutout into the seventh before running into a bit of trouble. She finished the game with six innings of work, four strikeouts, two walks and four runs given up, three of those being earned.

In the opener, Benedictine scored its two runs on a pair of solo home runs, including a leadoff blast by Shannon Fritsche. Jenna Boyajian added a solo home run in the fifth inning, giving the Eagles a 2-0 lead at that time.

The Falcons would plate one run in the fifth before Sharon's two-out, two-run home run. Holsten, who was on third base when the ball went flying over the left center field fence, finished the opener 2-for-3 with a pair of doubles. The Falcons finished game one with six hits.

In game two, CUW scored in the bottom of the sixth before the wild 10 combined runs came across in the seventh. Sobrilsky was 2-for-4 with two RBI, while Thiry finished the game 2-for-2 with a pair of walks and the one RBI on the game-winner. Freshman Sadie Strasser (Gladstone, Mich.) scored two runs in game two for the Falcons.

The Falcons (22-10, 13-3 NACC) will return to action tomorrow in an NACC doubleheader at Concordia University Chicago. First pitch from the CUC Softball Field in River Forest, Ill. is set for 1 p.m.