LA MIRADA, Calif.--Concordia's Audrey Robles was a double shy of hitting for the cycle and her defense worked around a number of Jessup rallies to defeat the Warriors 6-2 in the opening game of the Pacific West Conference Softball Championships at Freedom Field.
The Golden Eagles, the #1 seed, will advance to Wednesday's winner's game against the winner of Biola-Hawaii Hilo. Jessup will play at 2 pm against the loser of that contest in a must-win game in the double elimination tournament.
Robles hit a two-run homer in the second, a triple in the fifth and a single in the sixth. She was 3-for-3 with three runs scored and two RBI. Her two-run homer in the second put the Golden Eagles up 4-0.
CUI scored twice in the first inning on Morgan Kneubuhler's RBI double and Veronica Moore's run-scoring single. In the second Robles hit her shot and the Golden Eagles added insurance in the fifth after Robles tripled and Kneubuhler brought her home. Caitlynn Campbell's sacrifice fly scored Kneubuhler.
Still, Concordia had to work around a number of Jessup rallies throughout the game. The Warriors got the lead runner on in each of the first three innings, and they had at least one runner on base in every inning except the seventh. Jessup, making their first PacWest tournament appearance, did score an unearned run in the third and added one in the fifth, but otherwise CUI starting pitcher Kacie Gossett was able to work out of the jams. Twice, she got help from the arms of her outfielders who threw out runners at home and third base.
Jayden Nishi pitched the final two innings for the Golden Eagles. She didn't give up a hit. Gossett got the win (14-7), allowing one earned run in five innings, seven hits and she struck out five.
Offensively, in addition to Robles' big day, Kneubuhler and Moore had two hits each. Jessup's Maliyah Lawson had three of her team's seven hits, including a lead-off triple in the fifth.
"We knew Jessup can swing the bats, they are a very good offensive team," said Concordia head coach Crystal Rosenthal. "I was happy with how we stayed the course even after we had some adversity."
Brie Campbell, Jessup's coach, was proud of how her team battled in their first PacWest postseason game. "We had a plan that we executed pretty well, but they have a lot of really tough outs," she said. "We just need to regroup and are excited to come back and play again tomorrow."