The Mayville State University softball team lost twice to No. 6 ranked Concordia on Sunday in a pair of non-conference road games in Irvine, California.
Eagles pitcher Courtney Young pitched a one-hit shutout as she has several times before and improved on her already impressive .067 ERA.
Elizabeth Best-Still was able to work out the only hit for the Comets in the opening game of the double-header.
“We started out with a line-up due to illness and injury that we would have never predicted in the pre-season," head coach Melissa Majerus said. "When you basically lose your starting battery, it's tough to make-up for that, but we were not as resilient as I had hoped. I think we had our chances in the game. We had key hitters up at times with runners in scoring position, but we didn't get the key hits like they did.”
The Comets left 9 runners on base while the Eagles took advantage of runners in scoring position and 10 RBI on the night.
In game two it was a “new-old” look for the Comets as starting center fielder
Lyndsi Maglish moved behind the plate where she spent most of last year.
“We have total faith in Lyndsi to perform just about anywhere we put her," Majerus said. "When Katie couldn't play we moved a few people around in the first game and everything was off. Even though Lyndsi hadn't practiced catching all season it all came right back, she threw out runners, called a great game and had us in a position to win.”
The Comet pitchers of Crowder and VandeVeen put together a great seven innings of pitching versus a powerful Eagle offense. The infield, however, struggled giving up three errors in a row in the second inning. The Eagles made the Comets pay as top hitter Katie Carson bit a base clearing triple to bring all 3 unearned runs over the plate.
“That inning was tough to watch. Our infield is full of great, great players and when you get routine ground balls from your pitcher, plays need to be made. The story of softball is often the story of one bad inning. We need to learn from this and realize that we can compete at this level and bring our A-game tomorrow."
