rosemount, minn. - concordia's stephanie schmikla broke a five year freeze in no-hitters thrown by a golden bear pitcher when she worked her way to a complete game win over minnesota state on friday morning. The junior's efforts helped the squad to a 5-0 victory over the mavericks. The last time that cu saw a complete no-hitter thrown was when current assistant coach kristen schmidt toed the rubber in 2005, putting two no-no's in the books that year. The golden bears finished the day with a split twinbill, dropping the second game 3-8. game 1 box score - game 2 box score
schmikla (jr., madison, wis.) fell just short of marking a perfect game in the appearance that will undoubtedly stay fresh in her mind for years to come. The only runners to reach base for minnesota state reached on free passes in the second and seventh innings. Schmikla largely pitched to contact and allowed the golden bear defense to preserve her win. The golden bears played error-free throughout the first game.
concordia's batters gave schmikla some early confidence with a first inning two-run lead. Just as she had done in both previous games of the season, anna bjorlin (sr., hermantown, minn.) started the game off with a single to set the game plan in motion for her team. A sacrifice bunt and a single put two ducks on the pond when abby brundidge (sr., nekoosa, wis.) came to the plate. A sharp single drove in both runs for the golden bears and gave cu its first lead of the season against the mavericks, 2-0.
additional runs were tallied in the fourth and fifth innings as schmikla continued her mowing of minnesota state's batters. Brundidge was credited with another rbi and also scored a run in a 2-for-2 game. Sophomore jamie lindboe (so., eagan, minn.) also had two hits in the game, coming around to score both times that she reached the paths and also driving in a run with a late double.
game 2
with the misery of being no-hit in the first game swept under the rug, the mavericks responded with an 8-3 win over concordia in game two. They struck with might in the first inning, abby morris laying the groundwork with a lead-off homer and four unearned runs tagged on before being retired. A throw on a ground ball that would have gotten freshman katie feuerbach (fr., iowa city, iowa) out of the frame with limited damage from the solo homer sailed wide of first base, feuerbach digging her own hole with the error. The mistake allowed two runs to cross and set up the two-run dinger that followed in the next at-bat.
despite a tough first inning, feuerbach came back strong and gave up just two more hits through two innings of work. Schmikla came in for three innings of relief work and, as the day dictated, gave up just a single hit to the mavericks. The golden bears were sent down in order until a lead off home run came from missie feuerbach (fr., iowa city, iowa) in the third inning, the freshman's second long shot of the year. Maverick miscues gave the golden bears an extra out in the fourth inning and clutch hitter tiff rodd (sr., cloquet, minn.) came in to make them pay with a single that sent two across the plate and tightened the score to 6-3. The two runs were answered by the mavericks in the bottom of the inning and concordia failed to get more than one more base runner in the game.
the golden bears out-hit msu 5-0 in the first game and were short 4-6 in the second game. They had two errors on the day, both coming in the second game. Four players were matched with a day high two hits, while brundidge led the squad with three rbi.
friday's results sets concordia's season record at 1-3 with all games being played against minnesota state after a season-opening road trip was cancelled. All games of the year have been played at the rosemount irish dome. Concordia's next scheduled contest will take place over spring break in orlando, florida at the rebel spring games. The golden bears will play 14 games from march 6-13.
