st. Paul, minn. - tiff rodd delivered a two-rbi single on her birthday to give the golden bears a late and final lead over winona state in a 4-2 decision at dunning field. The win gave concordia a split over the #9-ranked warriors on tuesday evening after they fell 6-3 in the opening game. The game was vitally important, leaving concordia at third in the immensely tight nsic standings with a 14-4 league record and is 32-16 on the year. Winona state is fifth in the league, putting up a 35-10 overall and 15-5 nsic record.

the golden bears have made late-game pushes all season long and tuesdays games were no different, as they scored three runs in both games' sixth innings. Their three spot in the first game came after they figured out a very strong pitcher in wsu's stacey struzynski and avoided the shutout. The team's three runs in game two broke a tense 1-1 tie that lasted five innings and gave cu momentum as they roll toward the postseason. anna bjorlin led the offense with three hits on the evening.

the golden bear schedule does not get any easier in the remainder of the regular season. They take on wayne state (2nd in nsic) and augustana college (3rd in nsic) on the road this weekend before playing their home and regular season final against southwest minnesota state (1st in nsic) next wednesday.

concordia's stephanie schmikla held a very strong winona state offense to just two runs through her first five innings of work, giving up only one run in each of the first two innings. She settled into the game and allowed her defense to play behind her, drawing plenty of fly outs to keep the score down. The situation became more difficult in the sixth inning as a one-out walk was followed by an outfield single. Winona's callie givens stepped to the plate and delivered a three-run shot over the left center fence to stretch the warriors' lead to 5-0.

winona's starting pitcher, stacy struzynski, held the golden bears at bay for much of the game, recording seven strikeouts while working various areas of the strike zone. natalie mast had the team's only hit through four innings, getting on base with an infield single and advancing to second on her 97th career stolen base before being stranded in the first inning.

despite being down 5-0 going into their final two sets of outs, the golden bears knew the closing innings of games were where they packed a punch. They finally put some pressure on struzynski, taking an anna bjorlin single and a mast walk in the sixth. calli brennan sparked the offense with a double that scored a run and threatened with second and third bases now occupied. jamie lindboe came up next and hit a sharp liner to left field just far enough to sacrifice her at-bat and set the score at 5-2. abby brundidge had the next rallying shot, a single that shaved the left field line and put concordia down by only two runs, 5-3.

cu allowed a sixth winona run to cross in the seventh inning and their rally was cut short by a 1-2-3 bottom of the inning. Their late burst of energy carried over and set up the second game, however.

just as winona had held much of the offensive advantage in the first game, the golden bears turned the tables in the second game. They jumped out to an early lead with a jamie lindboe double scoring anna bjorlin, who extended her hitting streak to seven games with a leadoff shot up the middle.

the warriors answered by scoring their leadoff batter in the second inning, taking a walk and then shooting an rbi single up the middle. Both teams put numerous runners in scoring position in the following innings, but the defenses and pitchers held strong to keep the game knotted up through the middle of the sixth inning.

feeding off of a defensive stand that left winona's bases loaded in the top of the sixth, the golden bears took the lead in the bottom of the frame. Lindboe and abby brundidge found themselves at second and third following back-to-back hits. An infield pop-up gave the warriors two outs, but the rally was just starting as birthday girl tiff rodd stepped to the plate. Rodd made solid contact and watched the ball make its way through the left side of the infield, pumping her arms as she made her way to first base and watched both lindboe and brundidge cross the plate safely, setting the score at 3-1.

nikki scherr punched a single to left field and katie anderson drove another ball up the middle, scoring rodd and leaving no question about which team had found their groove in the important nsic matchup.

stephanie schmikla came in to save the game for cassye mcmahon after back-to-back hits tightened the game to 4-2 in the top of the seventh. Schmikla drew three fly outs to end the game, gaining her season's fifth save and ensuring mcmahon the win, her 13th of the year.