DAYTONA BEACH, Fla. (2/25/15)—Concordia opened the 2015 with a pair of games against Embry-Riddle (Fla.) and came away with a lot of positive "takeaways". The Cobbers lost 3-1 and 4-1 to an Eagle team who had already played eight games on the season.
The two biggest "takeaways" for Concordia came from the pitching of starters Hillary Rotunda and Abigail Haraldson and the improved play of the Cobber defense. Rotunda and Haraldson only allowed seven earned runs in the two games against a team whose batters had faced live pitching for over two full weeks. Rotunda allowed just five hits and three runs while striking out six in the opener. Haraladson started game 2 and allowed only four runs and one walk.
A year ago the Cobbers gave up 13 runs and 20 hits in the first two games outside after spending the first three weeks inside.
The Cobber defense also stepped up their efforts in the 2015 twinbill opener. Concordia committed only one error in the two games as opposed to five for Embry-Riddle. The other good news came from the fact that the one error did not lead to a run. Last year Concordia gave up 94 unearned runs in their 35 games.
The first game was scoreless until the bottom of the third inning when the Eagles scored a pair of runs.
Concordia would cut the margin to 2-1 in the top of the sixth when Kellie Morehouse singled home Mackenzie Jensen with a clutch two-out hit.
Embry-Riddle added an insurance run in the bottom of the sixth inning to bring the final total to 3-1.
Besides Morehouse's RBI single in the sixth, the other CC hit in game 1 came off the bat of freshman Mackenzie McCloud. McLoud recorded her first collegiate hit when she doubled to center field in the fourth inning. She eventually wound up on third base before a nice defensive play ended the inning.
The second game was similar to the first with the Eagles getting a pair of early runs and then Concordia scoring their lone run in the sixth frame.
Embry-Riddle scored single runs in the first and second and added a third in the fourth before the Cobbers got on the board in the sixth.
Madison Little started the inning by reaching on an error. She then stole second and went to third on an infield single by Morehouse. Little touched the plate when senior Ashley Tibbetts lifted a sacrifice fly to left field.
Another Cobber freshman collected her first collegiate hit, and like McCloud's double in the opener it was an extra-base hit. Second baseman Devonie Smith hammered a one-out triple to right field in the seventh inning. Unfortunately she was stranded on third and CC wound up losing 4-1.
Concordia will go for their first win of the year when they play Chestnut Hill (Pa.) in a doubleheader on Thursday, Feb. 26 beginning at 8 a.m. in Titusville, Fla.
