Concordia-St. Paul (20-11) extended their winning streak to eight games as they swept Minnesota Duluth (13-19), winning game one 4-2 and game two 5-3 Wednesday afternoon at Dunning Field. Junior Nikki Smith hit a go-ahead two-run homerun in the bottom of the sixth of game two to propel the Bears past the Bulldogs, while junior Kristen Schmidt extended her hitting streak to nine games with a single in the second inning of game two.

Schmidt also won her fifth consecutive decision in game one, pitching a complete game, allowing a pair of runs (one earned) on three hits with three strikeouts and no walks.

The Bears jumped on the Bulldogs early, scoring three runs in the bottom of the first. Schmidt had a RBI single, and Kelly Schwietz had a RBI groundout.

Senior Jennifer Pozzani led off the bottom of the fifth with a single off the pitcher. She then stole second and advanced to third on Shannon Miller's sacrifice bunt. That set up an Elizabeth Plante suicide squeeze, scoring Pozzani to extend the Concordia lead to 4-0.

The Bulldogs didn't get on the board until the top of the seventh, when they rallied for a pair of runs, but it wasn't enough to defeat Schmidt, who improved her record to 12-4 on the season.

Game two started rough for Concordia, as the Bulldogs scored three runs in the second inning to take a commanding 3-0 lead.

Concordia countered with a pair in the bottom of the inning, sparked by a RBI single to right center by Kristin Linell and a bases-loaded walk by Shannon Miller to get right back into the game.

Both pitchers settled into grooves after the second, as neither team's offense could muster any kind of a rally.

In the bottom of the sixth inning, Schwietz drilled a base hit up the middle, just past the outstretched arms of the second baseman. Smith followed with a two-run home run to left center to give Concordia their first lead of the game, 4-3. It was Smith's third long ball of the season. With two outs, the inning was still not over, as Tracie Enzler smoked a base hit to left field. Pozzani followed with a triple to deep right center, giving Allison Paitich an insurance run and a 5-3 lead for the final inning.

Paitich closed the door on the Bulldogs in the seventh to secure the victory, improving her record to 6-7 on the season. Her final pitching line was seven innings, three runs, four hits, two walks, and two strikeouts.

Concordia returns to NSIC action again tomorrow afternoon when they play host to Winona State at 6 p.m. at Dunning Field in a battle for first place atop the league standings. Winona State is currently 6-0 in NSIC play, while the Bears have a perfect 4-0 league record.