MILWAUKEE – The MSOE softball team suffered a 6-2 defeat to Concordia Chicago in its first game at the 2018 NACC Tournament Thursday morning at Alverno Field.

The fifth-seeded Raiders (25-14) conceded a trio of early home runs to the No. 4 Cougars (25-13) and were unable to recover offensively. They now return to the field in an elimination game Friday morning at 9 a.m. against No. 3 Aurora.

Junior Rachel Ziemba and sophomore Amanda Manssen collected two hits and a double each in the game.

CUC hit a lead-off home run in the first inning and added a two-run shot to jump out to a 3-0 lead after one frame.

MSOE pulled a run back in the second inning after a two-out double by senior Caitlyn Moran. She came in to score after an error to cut the deficit to 3-1.

A three-run home run in the third inning then put the game out of reach for the Cougars. The Raiders would be able to tack on another run in the sixth inning but scratch no closer. In the sixth, a lead-off error came around to score on a ground out by freshman Lorrin Pondo.

Pondo (12-11) got the start in the circle and pitched 2.2 innings with three strikeouts. Senior Sara McConnell came in and tossed 2.1 innings of scoreless relief with two more strikeouts while junior Liz Gale pitched a scoreless seventh inning to finish the game.