Sower sports roundup, April 25

By Maddy Peters, Sports Editor

The Concordia women’s golf team sent five players to participate in the Great Plains Athletic Conference Golf Championships from April 22-23 in Spencer, Iowa. The team finished ninth after three rounds of play with a total of 352-350-349–1,051 or +187 above par. The scores in each round were at least six points below the season average (358.5).

Sophomore Emery Custer led the team tying at 16th with a score of 86-86-83–255 or +39 above par. She tied with Morningside University’s Aidan Sander and Dordt University’s Rachel Bostwick.

The other four golfers included senior Mya Nurse (T25 86-86-90–262), senior Logan Eschliman (T28 91-87-85–263), sophomore Maddie Lewis (T42 89-93-91–273) and senior Jennifer Gilloti (T47 95-91-93–279). These championships end the season for the golf team with Nurse and Eschliman competing for the final time in their college career.

The Concordia men’s golf team played the Doane University Tigers in the Bulldog-Tiger Cup on April 25 in Lincoln after being rescheduled. The Bulldogs retained their trophy with a 12-9 score. The team played best ball matches on hole #10 of the Hillcrest Country Club and singles matches on hole No. 1.

The Concordia women’s tennis team began the GPAC Tennis Tournament with a quarterfinal against the Northwestern College Red Raiders and the semifinals against Midland University. The women beat Northwestern 4-1, but lost to Midland 4-2. Games were stopped once one team gained a majority. The women’s team finished their season with an 11-8 record.

Sophomore Mariana Molano returned from her injury with a vengeance leading the team alongside freshman Chakira Derman to the win against Northwestern. Molano won all of her matches going 6-2, 6-2 in doubles with sophomore teammate Alana Lopez Pagan. She then beat Northwestern’s Olya Furmanova 6-2, 6-1 and Midland’s Ari Lumanog 6-4, 6-4 in the singles matches.

Concordia was looking to have a 6-1 score against Northwestern including a doubles sweep before advantage stopped play. Derman and freshman Alexa Richert won their singles matches alongside Molano to give the Bulldogs the win. Lopez Pagan and junior Tessa Blough were ahead by a set when play was stopped.

Concordia’s rematch against Midland did not bring the redemption the team wanted after their previous matchup that went 4-3 to the Warriors. However, the Bulldogs managed to snatch the doubles point away from the Warriors after valiant efforts from Richert and sophomore Gabrielle Heiser who won five straight games to gain a temporary lead. From that point on, Concordia struggled in singles. Midland rallied to overtake the team in singles with Molano squeezing through in her aforementioned match and Richert having to stop play in a third set.

Concordia baseball had some scheduling changes announced recently. The doubleheader against Mount Marty University was postponed due to weather. The game was originally at the Plum Creek Ballparks, but was moved to the Den Hartog Fields in Lincoln. At 6:40 p.m. it was announced that Den Hartog would not be available either, but no replacement has been announced yet.

The Concordia softball team split a doubleheader with the Morningside University Mustangs on April 23 shutting out the first game 5-0 and being shutout in the second 2-0. The team is now at an even 22-22 overall record and a 12-8 record in the GPAC. The team looks towards its final regular season games against Dordt University on April 27 with first pitch at 1 p.m. at the Plum Creek Ballparks.

Concordia took an early lead in the first game against Morningside with one run in the first inning scored by senior Julia Van Wey off a single from junior Kylie Shottenkirk. In the fourth, freshmen Jordan Head and Laycee Josoff hit back-to-back singles for an RBI apiece. Freshman Aubriana Krieser then topped off the inning and the game with a 2-RBI double to place the Bulldogs squarely ahead for the win.

Junior Megan Eurich pitched her eighth shutout of the season only allowing two hits and one walk and had nine strikeouts.

The Bulldogs struggled to get much started against the Mustangs in game two. Morningside’s pitcher Morgan Secora and the rest of the defense were a tough nut for Concordia to crack. Between two strikeouts, six flyouts and 13 groundouts, the Bulldogs were only able to get four hits off.

The top of the seventh looked promising with two bases full, but after a groundout from Head, the game was over with the Mustangs giving back what they faced in the first game. Sophomore Taryn Ganstrom was the losing pitcher for the second game going five hits for two runs, one strikeout and recording two errors.