MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin softball team showed a lot of heart on Thursday evening in the final non-conference games of the season. The Falcons trailed by three and five in games one and two but rallied for 4-3 and 10-7 victories to improve to 12-6 on the year and the winning streak to five games.
Sophomore Emma Shellstrom (San Diego, Calif.) had a sensational start to game one with two strikeouts to start the series.
The Pioneers capitalized on a bases-clearing double with two outs in the second inning to take a 3-0 lead.
The Falcons earned a run back in the third inning with a sacrifice fly to center field from senior Megan Bloyer (Oregon, Wis.) to send in sophomore Jenna Shadoski (Janesville, Wis.), who started the inning with a leadoff double into the gap in left-center field.
The Birds then tied the game on carbon-copy plays on back-to-back hits.
Senior Jasmine Freeze (Bolingbrook, Ill.) dropped a single into center field between the centerfielder, shortstop, and second baseman to score junior Rylie DuVal (Elgin, Ill.) from second base.
Junior Taylor Jacobson (Kenosha, Wis.) sent the ball into the same spot to score Megan Bloyer from second to tie the game.
Junior Nora Statz (Helenville, Wis.) started the seventh inning on a double down the left-field line. Megan Bloyer moved her to third with a ground out, and Jasmine Freeze was the game one hero with a flyout deep enough to centerfield to score Statz with the sacrifice fly.
Emma Shellstrom had three strikeouts in the start.
Sophomore Kylie Strupp (Slinger, Wis.) earned her first collegiate victory, pitching the final two innings and had a strikeout.
Jasmine Freeze led the contest with two hits and Nora Statz stole the only base.
Carroll struck first again in game two, but with five runs in the third inning.
The Falcons scored two runs in the bottom half of the inning to start the comeback.
A wild pitch scored sophomore Jenna Lischka (Manitowoc, Wis.) and Megan Bloyer had a sacrifice fly to centerfield that allowed Jenna Shadoski to safely cross home plate.
Jasmine Freeze tied the game in the fifth inning with a three-run home run over the fence in center field to also score Rylie DuVal and Jenna Lischka.
Megan Bloyer turned out to score what turned out to be the game-winning run in the sixth inning when she cleared the bases of Nora Statz, Rylie DuVal and Jenna Lischka of a double into right-center field.
The Pioneers just did not learn to avoid Jasmine Freeze, and she made them pay again in the sixth inning with her second home run of the day to center field to send in Senior KianaMarie Taccad (Chicago, Ill.).
The Pioneers took advantage of the low light in the seventh inning and a double scored two runs, but that was the end of the comeback.
Nora Statz led the game with three hits.
In the circle, Jasmine Freeze had two strikeouts in the start. Sophomore Kylie Van de Loo (Menasha, Wis.) iced the Pioneers with over two innings in the circle and only allowed one hit and a strikeout. Emma Shellstrom earned her fifth victory of the year in the final two innings and had two strikeouts.
The Falcons look to continue the good vibes on Saturday against Rockford.
