CHICAGO, Ill. – North Park Softball dropped a pair of games at Elmhurst University on Saturday afternoon, 2-1 and 11-5.
Game One: Elmhurst 2, North Park 1
Freshman Gabby Gonzalez-Villegas was stuck with another hard luck loss in game one. She worked six innings and scattered eight hits on two runs, fanning three Bluejay hitters. Gonzalez-Villegas kept a shutout through three innings before a leadoff double by Elmhurst's O'Leary led to a run when Mockenhau brought her home on a single up the middle.
The Bluejays added one more run in the sixth by nearly the same circumstances. O'Leary singled to lead off the inning, was pinch ran for by Calderon, and Calderon scored on Mockenhau's RBI single to left.
North Park manufactured a run in the seventh when sophomore shortstop Kayla Lorenz began the inning with a triple to center field. Junior Debbie Dinkel came in to run for her at third, crossing the plate on sophomore first baseman Salyssa Garcia's sac fly. Unfortunately, this 2-1 ballgame is as close as NPU would get, managing only three hits against Elmhurst's duo of Lenczewski and Mockenhau in the circle.
Game Two: Elmhurst 11, North Park 5
Game two had a completely different feel, as the two teams combined for 24 hits and 16 runs.
Elmhurst pulled ahead 5-0 after three innings on batches of singles, but the Vikings would slash that lead in their half of the third.
Junior second baseman Maddy Tan singled and advanced to second on a passed ball. Sophomore center fielder Eden Baker chopped an infield single, moving Tan to third, and promptly stole second base. Sophomore third baseman Kathryn Keehn brough Tan in on an RBI fielder's choice and stole second to keep runners in scoring position. Next, sophomore left fielder Sydney Snyder singled through the left side, bringing the pair of runners on base home to close the game to 5-3.
Following a scoreless fourth inning for Viking freshman reliever Skylar Bryl, the Vikings tied things up in their next chance at the plate.
Senior right fielder Isa Santos singled into center and advanced on a sac bunt by senior Eliza Rex. After Tan was plunked and stole second, a passed ball moved both runners up, scoring Santos. After a pitching change, Baker executed on a squeeze-turned-RBI-bunt-single to tie things up at 5-5.
Unfortunately, North Park relinquished the lead in the sixth. Elmhurst banged out five hits to score five runs, putting the game out of reach. The Bluejays added one more run in the seventh on an infield error, resulting in the final score of 11-5.
North Park (10-24, 5-9 CCIW) ends the regular on the road in Decatur next Saturday, May 4, against Millikin University. First pitch at Workman Family Softball Field is set for 1:00 PM CT.
