st. Joseph, mo. - concordia's softball team won its fifth straight decision with a shutout victory over pittsburg state (17-13) on sunday. They played their final game of the weekend against a tough missouri western (22-4) squad, fighting back late but falling 2-4. The golden bears (16-13) are excited to host bemidji state and minnesota duluth in nsic-opening doubleheaders next weekend at dunning field.
the golden bears put together timely hitting and played errorless defense to take a 3-0 win over pittsburg state in the opening game on sunday. Concordia opened the game with two first inning hits and a run scored, with sami mattson crossing the dish following an abby brundidge single.
the concordia defense left a number of pittsburg state runners on base in the opening innings of the game to maintain their lead. Pitcher stephanie schmikla was on top of her game in the middle innings, facing only ten batters through the third, fourth and fifth innings combined.
jamie lindboe put the golden bears up 2-0 following two scoreless innings, launching a solo homer into left field in the fourth. Brundidge came through with her second rbi single in the fifth inning, scoring anna bjorlin and giving cu a 3-0 lead. Both baserunners that reached the plate in the game reached following patient at-bats that resulted in walks. Concordia took its 3-0 lead into the final inning, stranding a psu runner at third along the way to secure the shutout.
brundidge had two of the team's six hits in the game, tabbing her two rbi at key moments in the meeting. Bjorlin and lindboe each had a hit and a run scored, with lindboe's long shot giving her a season's 24th rbi. The freshman has five home runs on the year, with two in the last three games. Schmikla improves to 8-6 on the season with the win, striking out one and walking just one while allowing only five hits.
concordia put together several great scoring opportunities for themselves in the game against a missouri western squad that has now won 19 consecutive games with the 4-2 decision. The golden bears threatened in the top of the first inning, with anna bjorlin reaching third following her game-opening single. Another runner was stranded in scoring position in the second inning and players reached base in each of the third, fourth and sixth innings.
with their offense finding success but unable to put runs on the board, the golden bears needed another firm defensive stance to hold the griffons at bay. Things unfortunately went the opposite way in the field in the bottom of the first, with cu committing two errors in the inning and missouri western jumping out 3-0 early on. The golden bears stopped the bleeding, however, stranding two baserunners to end the inning and then playing errorless for the following four innings. The griffon offense was stymied in the following innings, with only one runner reaching base until their final round of at-bats.
the golden bears finally broke through on the scoreboard in the final inning of play, reaping results with runners on base. tiff rodd started the frame with a single and katie anderson kept things rolling with her own one-bagger. With her third hit in the game, bjorlin put the golden bears on the board, snapping a double into the grass to drive in rodd. Concordia got an extra out with a griffon error that let anderson score, drawing the game to a 4-2 margin. The team fell empty of hits with their final out, however, and their late rally came up short.
concordia out-hit missouri western 7-3 in the game. Bjorlin tabbed while four other cu sluggers had one hit each. calli brennan made her hitting streak reach four games with a single in the second inning. cassye mcmahon struck out four and only gave up three hits in the game, but took the loss.
