Curtis Collects 100th Career Win As Warriors Split With Falcons

MILWAUKEE (WLCSports.com) - Sixth-year Wisconsin Lutheran College head softball coach Bill Curtis won his 100th career game as the Warriors split with Concordia Wisconsin on Wednesday afternoon at Neumann Family Field. The Falcons won the opener, 9-3, before the Warriors came back to take the nightcap, 8-2.

THE BASICS

• Scores: Concordia Wisconsin 9, Wisconsin Lutheran 3; Wisconsin Lutheran 8, Concordia Wisconsin 2
• Location: Neumann Family Field, Milwaukee, Wis.
• Records: Wisconsin Lutheran (8-14, 5-5 NACC), Concordia Wisconsin (19-7, 8-2 NACC)

GAME 1 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Falcons benefited from a Warriors fielding error in the first inning to plate the game's first run. CUW added two more runs in the fourth on back-to-back run-scoring singles.
• Concordia Wisconsin capitalized on some Warriors mental miscues in the fifth with four runs on three hits for an 8-0 lead.
• Wisconsin Lutheran didn't go away without a fight, as it scored three times in the fifth after Abby Mahsem (South Milwaukee, Wis./South Milwaukee) cleared the bases with a long single and throwing error for an 8-3 deficit.
• CUW scored its final unearned run of the game in the seventh on a two-out RBI single to center field for the 9-3 final.
• Karah Ritacco (Chicago, Ill./Trinity) recorded two of WLC's five hits in the game, while also scoring a run. Mahsem suffered the loss in the circle, giving up nine hits and seven earned runs.

GAME 2 HIGHLIGHTS

• The Falcons once again jumped out to a 1-0 lead in game two following a two-out RBI single to center field.
• The Warriors grabbed a 2-1 lead in the second after Sydney Horton (Crestwood, Ill./Alan B. Shepard) scored on a Falcons error and Rebecca Yniguez (Wildomar, Calif./California Lutheran) followed with a RBI single through the left side that scored Ritacco.
• CUW evened the score at 2-2 in the third after back-to-back doubles.
• Wisconsin Lutheran jumped back in front for good in the third on Davina Gutierrez's (Chicago, Ill./Dwight D. Eisenhower) RBI groundout. The Warriors then upped their lead to 7-2 in the fourth after scoring four runs on four hits. Paris McCullum (Kokomo, Ind./Kokomo), Abby Akright (Dunlap, Ill./Dunlap), and Taylor Bjork (Horicon, Wis./Horicon) each had RBI in the four-run frame.
• WLC tacked on its final run in the fifth on a Yniguez groundout that scored Ritacco and WLC held CUW off the scoreboard for the final four innings en route to its fifth straight series split with the Falcons.
• Bjork, who went 3-for-4 with two RBI at the plate, also earned her fourth win of the season in the circle. She allowed just two runs on seven hits in 7.0 innings of work. Ritacco also finished 3-for-3 with three runs scored.

FOR THE FOES

• Maddie Zazas led the Falcons with a 3-for-5 performance in game one. She added two RBI and a run scored. Carly Sobrilsky also collected three hits for CUW. Emily Brekke allowed just five hits and struck out six in 7.0 innings to earn her 10th win of the season.
• Molly O'Connell was the only Falcons hitter to collect multiple hits in game two. She was also handed the loss in the circle, surrendering three runs, all unearned, in 3.0 innings.

UP NEXT

• The Warriors are right back in action tomorrow when they face Mount Mary (6-16) in a non-conference doubleheader at Neumann Family Field. First pitch is scheduled for 12:00 p.m. WLC, which swept the Blue Angels by a combined score of 17-1 a season ago, will be the visiting team for both games.