AURORA, Ill. – The Golden Eagles opened the season scoring double-figures in each game of the double-header as they swept Trinity Christian 10-4 and 11-3 (in five) at the Aurora Dome. CU played games earlier than they ever have in program history and will now enter the NTC Spring Games over Spring Break with a 2-0 record. The first games of the NTC Spring Games will take place on March 5 against Florida National and Spring Arbor at the Fortune Road Complex. 
 
Game One: Cornerstone – 10 Trinity Christian - 4

• Trinity Christian got on the board first in the season opener, as Halmon scored on a Jurasz single to make it 1-0. 
• In the top of the third, Cornerstone immediately responded with their first runs of the year coming on a McKenzie Butgereit two run bomb that scored the freshman Mackenzie Nagelhout and made it 2-1. 
• The very next batter Sydney Carr also hit a home run to make it 3-1. 
• Trinity Christian got one run back in the bottom of the third as they joined the HR part with a bomb to left field from Martin. 
• Cornerstone then began to take over scoring runs in the next four innings. Abbey Brower hit an RBI double in the fourth, Kaitlin Johnson hit an RBI double in the fifth, Jolie Groeneveld hit a two RBI triple to go along with a McKenzie Butgereit RBI single in the sixth, and Maddy Chatman doubled in the seventh to score Kaitlin Johnson to balloon the lead to 10-2. 
• Kaitlin Johnson exited with an eight-run lead, going 6.0 innings allowing six hits and two earned runs to go along with seven strikeouts in her season debut. 
• Freshman Alyssa Braam came in and pitched the final inning for CU. She gave up a two-run homerun to Martin but no further damage was done as CU earned a 10-4 victory in the season opener. 

 
Game Two: Cornerstone – 11 Trinity Christian - 3

• The Golden Eagle offense picked up right where they left off in game one, scoring two first inning runs on a Mackenzie Nagelhout RBI single and a Sydney Carr RBI single to make it 2-0. 
• In the second inning, TCC found the board for the first time, scoring on a groundout to make it 2-1. 
• After threatening but not scoring in the second, CU got right back to their scoring ways in the third with an RBI single from Sydney Carr and a Trolls fielding error that scored Carr, making it 4-1. 
• Martin for the Trolls hit her third homerun of the day and first of the second game in the bottom of the third inning to bring the Golden Eagle lead to just one at 4-3. 
• Strong base running and some sloppy defensive play from Trinity Christian allowed two more runs to score for the Golden Eagles as a wild pitch scored Sydney Tilma and Jolie Groeneveld stole two bases including home to increase the CU advantage to 6-3. 
• The offense continued to shine in the fifth inning, scoring five more runs highlighted by a Mackenzie Nagelhout three-run jack to bring the lead to eight at 11-3. 
• Mikayla Meade ran into some trouble in the fifth, but stranded runners on second and third to earn the mercy rule victory in game two, 11-3. 

 
By the Numbers:
3 – Cornerstone hit three HR's on the day as McKenzie Butgereit, Mackenzie Nagelhout, and Sydney Carr all hit one. 
7 – Kaitlin Johnson led the team with seven strikeouts in six innings pitched. 
24/16 – Cornerstone outhit Trinity Christian by eight on the day, 24-16.
 
What's Next?
Cornerstone will head to Florida over spring break for the NTC Spring Games starting with Florida National and Spring Arbor on March 5. 
 
Softball Contact: Jesse Campbell
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