IRVINE, Calif. – Katie Cotta tossed her 11th no-hitter of the season, while Annette Merjano and Hannah Howell each homered and drove in three, as Concordia University claimed the NAIA Softball National Championships Irvine Bracket title with a 9-0 victory over The College of Idaho.
The No. 1 ranked Eagles (48-3) will advance to the National Championships final site in Columbus, Ga., while the Lady Yotes (36-23) saw their season finish with a record-setting 11th-place finish in the nation.
Cotta allowed just one base runner – a third inning walk to Briana Brace, striking out 10 batters to pick up her 23rd win of the season.
CUI took a 1-0 lead in the second, as Merjano hit a two-out solo home run, pushing the lead to 2-0 in the third on a Caitrin Debaun RBI single. Merjano came through in the fourth, dropping down a perfectly executed suicide squeeze bunt to score Chanele Dresser, making it 3-0.
The Eagles broke the game wide open in the fifth – sending 11 batters to the plate, scoring six times. Howell led off the inning with a long solo homer to left, then capped the inning with a two-run single through the left side.
Pitching in her fourth game in three games, C of I starter Nickayla Skinner went four-plus innings, allowing five earned runs and striking out four. The junior finished the season with a trio of single-season school records – most wins (25), most shutouts (11), and most strikeouts (247).
The game marked the final collegiate game for four Coyote seniors – Molly Mills, Kayla Webb, Rachael Strong, and Hannah Johnson.
