LAKE ELSINORE, CA- Colorado Christian began play at the D2 West Coast Challenge on Friday, taking on Cal State Dominguez Hills and Concordia Irvine. In a pair of absolute thrillers, the Cougars came out on top in both, 13-11 in 10 innings against the Toros and 4-3 in eight innings against the Golden Eagles. 

GAME ONE 
The offense started hot against CSUDH as Kat Hanson and Elyse McMullin ripped back-to-back triples to make it 1-0. Felesha LePenske notched a sac fly to put her team on top 2-0. The Toros responded with three runs in their half of the first as the teams traded punches. 

A massive second inning for the Cougars began with an error that quickly allowed CCU to tie the game at 3-3. McMullin singled in the go ahead run, and Arriana Wright brought home two more with a double to right center as the Cougars took a 6-3 lead. LePenske singled in another run, while Peyton Marvel and Sarah Dollerschell singled in two more for a 9-3 advantage. 

The Toros swung the momentum back in their favor with a run in the second and four runs in the fourth to draw within one. Stifling the Cougars offense from the second inning on, CSUDH singled home the tying run in the 7th to make it 9-9 and push the game to extras. 

With the international baserunner rule in effect, both teams scored the runner placed on second to take it to the ninth tied at 10-10. Maya Schroeder singled a run home in the ninth, but the Toros once again matched it in their half inning to send things to the 10th tied at 11. A Hanson single and error allowed CCU to go up 13-11, and the pitching held up for the exhausting 13-11 victory. 

Hanna Espinoza picked up the victory in the circle with 6.1 innings of relief with just one earned run allowed and three strikeouts. The top four in the order all had a pair of RBI as Hanson, McMullin, Wright and LePenske led the offense.  

GAME TWO
After the marathon contest in game one, the Cougars had to pick up their bats and gloves, move fields and take on a Concordia Irvine team that received votes in the NFCA preseason top 25 poll. 

Undaunted by the task at hand, the Cougars took the lead in the third as Wright doubled home Hanson with a tight play at the plate. An error on the next play allowed CCU to get another run and make it 2-0. 

A pitching duel ensued from there as Lisa Liddell faced off with Jayden Nishi of CUI as the two were dealing in the circle all night. The score remained 2-0 until the sixth, when a huge homer from the Golden Eagles with a runner on tied the affair at 2-2. The seventh inning saw an opportunity to walk it off for the Cougars, but a perfect relay from Concordia nabbed McMullin at home after a Wright double and sent the game to extra innings. 

With runners placed in second once again to start the inning, CUI singled home their runner to make it 3-2. Liddell locked it down from there with a strike out and flyout to keep her team down just one 3-2. McMullin was placed on second, and after a LePenske walk, Leah Garcia reached on an error that scored Elyse. Marvel was intentionally walked to load the bases and try and force a double play or play at the plate, but Schroeder had other plans as she roped a single over first base to walk it off 4-3 for the Cougars. 

Liddell was stellar in the circle, going eight innings with six strikeouts and just one earned run allowed. The offense was opportunistic as they capitalized on errors and had timely hits to walk it off. 

After playing 18 innings in two contests today, the Cougars will look to rest and regroup for two more games at the D2 West Coast Challenge tomorrow February 7 against Vanguard and Cal State Monterey Bay, with first pitches set for 1 and 6 p.m. MST.