Needing to win three games in one day to win the 2014 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference Tournament Championship, the Aurora University softball team went 1-1 on Saturday, defeating Concordia Wisconsin 7-2 before losing to Benedictine University 5-2.
Game One
Aurora 7
Concordia Wis. 2
The Spartans took care of business in game one of the day, defeating Concordia Wisconsin 7-2. Concordia scored an unearned run to a 1-0 lead in the third inning off AU starting pitcher
Natalie Zanella.
AU's offense responded with a six run bottom of the inning to take the commanding lead. In the inning, the first six Spartans reached with a combination of hits, Falcon errors and a hit by pitch.
Lauren Huebner led off the inning with a single and scored when
Rebecca Randall reached on an error to tie the game 1-1.
Mandey Shrader was hit by a pitch and
Laura Dierking loaded the bases with an infield single. When
Sarah Clauser reached on an error, Randall scored and Shrader scored on a passed ball with Steph Starr at the plate for a 3-1 AU lead. Starr then singled to score Dierking and Clauser for a 5-1 lead. After
Logan Cahill sacrificed Starr to third,
Taylor Moore laid down a perfect suicide squeeze bunt to score Starr with the final run of the inning.
The Spartans added the seventh and final run in the fifth inning with Huebner reaching on a fielders choice that scored Starr who led off the inning with an infield single.
Zanella allowed a run in the sixth but nothing more as AU coasted to the 7-2 win.
Game Two
Benedictine 5
Aurora 2
In game two of the day and the first NACC Tournament Championship game, the Spartans were bit by the big inning as Benedictine scored four runs in the third inning and held off the Spartans for a 5-2 AU loss.
AU got on the scoreboard in the bottom of the second inning with Huebner laying down her own squeeze bunt that scored Cahill who led off the inning with a single.
After BU scored four times off
Vanessa Hartzell in the top of the third, AU would respond with a run in the bottom of the inning. Cahill was involved in this run as well as she singled to drive in Clauser with the second and eventually only other run the Spartans would score.
Benedictine adding an insurance run in the top of the seventh and would go on to knock off the top seeded Spartans 5-2.
With the day's split, AU finishes the 2014 season with a 27-15 overall record and were the NACC regular season champions.
