ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team is getting ready for a fast start to their 2018 season, as they will play eight games in seven days to kick-off the year. The Golden Bears will first travel to Kansas for four games before returning to Minnesota to play four more games in the West. St. Paul dome.  
 
The Bears were originally scheduled to play in the Arkansas-Monticello 9-State Division II Classic, but this tournament was cancelled due to bad weather. CSP will now be playing at Emporia University in Kansas, where they will face four different opponents. Concordia will start their season facing Southwest Baptist and Arkansas Tech on Saturday, February 17^th and will take on #14 Missouri-St. Louis and #10 Southern Arkansas on the following day. Game times for both days are set for 9 and 11 a.m.   
 
The Bears have not played Southwest Baptist since 2013, when they defeated the Bearcats 11-0 in Bentonville, Arkansas and this will be the first time that the Bears have faced Arkansas Tech, Missouri-St. Louis, and Southern Arkansas.
 
The Golden Bears finished in 13^th last season, going 16-35 overall and 8-22 in conference play, but were slated to improve four spots this year, as they were picked to tie for ninth in the NSIC in the preseason coaches poll that debuted in January. One of the main reasons for this predicted improvement is the ten returning players that Concordia brings back for this season, including eight that appeared in 20 or more games last season. The team also adds four transfer students and four freshman, which add to their depth and potential for the 2018 season.
 
Included in the returning group of players, are the first four batters in the lineup, as Carlie Hart, Nicole Thompson, Justine Schattner, and Haley Schanks are all back for 2018. "We are counting on these four to lead us, especially at the top of the order. We are looking to them to help us win more games this year," head coach Bob Bartel said of the top of his batting order.
 
Carlie Hart, who started 47 games in the leadoff spot for the Bears in 2017, is entering her junior season for CSP. The Lake Elmo native finished the 2017 season with a .333 batting average and led the Bears in runs (26), hits (55), and doubles (13), while being tied for the most stolen bases (9). The junior will remain in center field this season, entering the year with two seasons of experience in this spot.
 
Bartel is excited to see what his centerfielder can do this year, saying, "Hart I think is poised to have a breakout season. I think if she plays up to her abilities she could be an all-conference player with a chance of being named all-region."
 
Returning to action after a season-ending injury in the middle of her junior year is Nicole Thompson, who started 23 games in the number two spot in the lineup for the Bears. The senior infielder hit .418 and racked up 33 hits in her 23 games played in 2017, while also compiling an impressive .965 fielding percentage. She enters the year with a .390 career batting average, which is the highest of any past or present CSP player.
 
"We lost Nicole early in the conference season last year which was a big blow for us. We're going to be moving her from second base to shortstop this year, and we expect her to play well there, having experience there from her freshman season," Bartel said of Thompson.
 
Joining Thompson on the left side of the infield will be junior Justine Schattner, who also had a big 2017 season, starting 46 games in the three-spot for CSP, finishing the year with a .331 batting average, a .401 on-base percentage, and 52 hits, including 11 doubles and three home runs. Schattner also has the most RBIs of any returning player, with 23. After making 50 starts at shortstop last season, Schattner will be making the transition to third base, which Bartel thinks will be a big help to his infield.
 
Rounding out the top four in the batting order is senior Haley Schanks. The North Saint Paul native started in 50 games last season, most of which were as the designated player (DP). In her junior season, she hit .289, tallying 42 hits and 23 runs scored. Bartel reported that Schanks will be moving to first base this season, to replace all-NSIC second-teamer Liz Jarosz, who started all 51 games there last season.
 
Bartel named three keys to the season, saying that the team must stay healthy, pitch well and play good defense, and have timely hitting in order to be successful this year.
 
The Bears suffered quite a few injuries last season, but have Nicole Thompson, Hannah Carlson, and Lizzy Swenson back healthy this year. Freshman outfielder Meagan Bliese and freshman pitcher and first baseman Hanna Mortenson are still battling injuries, and will provide more depth for CSP defensively once they get healthy.
 
Helping the Bears play that good defense that Coach Bartel is looking for is the addition of freshmen Cam Veenbaas and Amanda Parsons. Veenbaas, a Woodbury native, is slated to be the starting second baseman to start the year and should help the team with her offense as well.
 
"We are looking for Cam to solidify our infield. Defensively she's got great range. Offensively, she battles at the plate. She has great speed, so when she does get on, she should cause some problems for teams on defense with her baserunning abilities," Bartel said of Veenbaas.
 
Parsons will be seeing innings behind the plate this year and could see opportunities in the batting lineup. "We expect Amanda to be a good receiver. We believe she'll surprise us with her bat; she swings a pretty good bat. She's still got a few things to work on defensively, but we're excited about it," Bartel says.
 
Swenson will also get innings in the catcher's spot this season. The senior catcher appeared in 19 games last year for the Bears, making 11 starts at third base and one start behind the plate, before being sidelined due to an injury. She finished the year with a .938 fielding percentage.
 
Other defensive changes include moving Lily Langevin from right to left field this year and moving Hannah Carlson to right. Langevin saw action in all three outfield spots last season, posting a .942 fielding percentage. Carlson, on the other hand, played mostly in the infield last season before her season-ending injury. Both Langevin and Carlson were consistent hitters for the Bears as well, both batting over .300. The outfield will also have notable depth this year, as both senior Lauren Bartel and sophomore transfer Kris McIntyre could see innings out there.    
 
A significant factor in the Bears' defense will be their pitching staff, which Bartel reports may be the deepest pitching staff the team has had in the past few years. Concordia will have three solid options to start the year with sophomore transfer Aryka Knoche, sophomore Samantha Sullivan, and sophomore Kali Kaestner. McIntyre also may see some innings in relief, which could add some variety as she is the only left-handed pitcher on the roster. Sullivan is the only one that has seen action for the Golden Bears in previous seasons, making 30 appearances last season and finishing with a 4.24 ERA. She pitched 156.2 innings last year, which was the most of any CSP pitcher, compiling 82 strikeouts.
 
Bartel is enthusiastic about his pitching depth, saying, "We're excited to have three arms that we trust in any situation. We're not quite sure how we'll use them yet, I think we'll use the early part of the season to figure that out. Hopefully we'll have a grasp on how we want to use the three of them come conference season. We also might see Kris McIntyre throw a few innings in there; she's a lefty who we feel can keep teams off-balance."
 
Bartel expanded on the offensive side of his team, saying, "I don't think we're going to be a huge power-hitting team, but I think we're going to be more of a doubles, line-drives to the gap, type of team with a chance to steal some bases. We're hoping to get some early leads in some games, so we can be a little more aggressive on the bases."
 
The batting order also features some speed at the bottom, as Veenbaas and Langevin are slated to be in the eight and nine spots, which should help the Bears be quick and aggressive on the basepaths. Bartel added, "I also feel like we have some pretty good options if we decide to use a DP. Makenna Giese will be an option in that spot as well as Kris McIntyre and Lauren Bartel for that matter. MaKenna and Lauren got a little more experience last year with some at bats in more crucial situations."
 
Having options on both the offensive and defensive side of his lineup will be important for Bartel, as the NSIC schedule will be challenging.
 
"I expect the conference to be just as tough, if not tougher, than it always has been, with the top teams returning a lot of top players. Every team seems to be improving, year-in and year-out, so I expect every game to be tough, no matter who we're playing," Bartel says of the conference season.
 
The Bears open the NSIC season by hosting the defending national champions, #1 Minnesota State Mankato, on March 27^th. CSP should have plenty of time to prepare and fine-tune their skills before the conference season starts, as the Bears will play 23 nonconference games in February through mid-March.