No. 14 Softball Stings Superior

OSHKOSH, Wis. – The 14^th-ranked Falcons started the NCAA Division III Softball Tournament off on a high note. The Falcons cruised to an 8-0 in six innings to improve to 38-3 on the season. The victory is the 29^th-straight victory for the Blue and White.

Senior Gina Followell (Romeoville, Ill.) started the day with three strikeouts in the first inning.

Senior Claudia Utz (Lockport, Ill.) crushed the ball over the fence in left field in the bottom of the first inning to also score senior Sydney Erdmann (Geneva, Ill.).

In the second inning, Sydney Erdmann tripled to left field to allow freshman Rylie DuVal (Elgin, Ill.) to score from second base after she stole second base.

In the third inning, Gina Followell became the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference all-time leader in strikeouts. She passed Anna Snyder of Aurora, who established the record in 2010.

Concordia added to the lead in the fifth inning when Claudia Utz doubled into the gap in left-center field to bring home junior Madi Wheat (Coweta, Okla.) from second base.

The Yellowjackets threatened in the sixth inning with runners on second and third base with no outs. The Concordia defense sprayed the Yellowjackets with three-straight outs, including a double play to end the inning with Sydney Erdmann throwing out the base runner at third base after catching the second out of the inning.

Rylie DuVal dropped a single through the middle of the infield to allow junior Emily Walters (Waupun, Wis.) to safely score from second base.

Sydney Erdmann smacked her second triple of the day into right-center field to score Rylie DuVal and sophomore KianaMarie Taccad (Chicago, Ill.).

Madi Wheat forced the mercy rule with a single through the middle of the infield to score Sydney Erdmann.

Sydney Erdmann led the game with three hits. Thursday was only the second time this season that CUW had two triples in a game and the first time in program history that a player had two triples.

Sophomore Megan Bloyer (Oregon, Wis.) and Rylie DuVal both stole a base in the victory.

Gina Followell finished with 10 strikeouts and only three hits. She also improves to 25-0 on the season with the victory.

The Falcons will take on the Titans of Wisconsin-Oshkosh on Friday morning. The winner of that game advances to Saturday and the loser will play again on Friday afternoon.