bemidji, minn. - the concordia softball team (14-6, 2-0 nsic) routed bemidji state (2-13, 0-2 nsic) in two shutout wins that opened the nsic schedule on wednesday afternoon. They pulled out a 2-0 win in the first game before marking a pummeling of 10-0 in the second game. katie anderson and tiff rodd had the hot bats of the day, combining for 8-of-13 hits and also stealing three bases. Cu pitchers allowed just six hits through the day's 13 innings. The golden bears play another nsic doubleheader tomorrow at minnesota duluth. game 1 box - game 2 box
game 1
the golden bears jumped on top of the beavers early to go up 1-0 after the first half inning of play. abby brundidge (sr., nekoosa, wis.) utilized the first of seven bsu errors in the twinbill to score lead-off hitter anna bjorlin (sr., hermantown, minn.). Bemidji state pitcher courtney anderson did a good job in the following three innings, racking up six strikeouts and holding concordia without any further damage.
a two-out rally in the fifth inning broke the stalemate, however, and the golden bears marked their second run of the game, this time earned. nikki scherr (sr., stewartville, minn.) doubled to left center to get into scoring position for the first time since the lead-off inning. The bat then went into the hands of team leader bjorlin, who wasted no time in driving a single up the middle to score scherr. Bjorlin went on to steal second base and made it to third following a fielding error on the throw-down. A diving catch was made in the outfield to end concordia's push in the sixth.
stephanie schmikla (jr., madison, wis.) countered bsu's anderson from the circle and pitched a magnificent game for the shutout win. She worked through each of the first five innings and faced no more than four batters per frame, ultimately only giving up four hits to the beavers in the win. Schmikla picked up a clutch strikeout in the sixth inning with the bases loaded, ending the frame and keeping the beavers off of the scoreboard. The win improves schmikla's season record to 7-4.
game 2
the golden bears were hungry for a big win, and that is precisely what they drew up in the second game of the day, a 10-0 win that ended after six innings. katie anderson (so., mendota heights, minn.) and tiff rodd (sr., cloquet, minn.) each dialed in with three hits at the plate, anderson drilling out a set of doubles and a triple. With her swings, anderson improved her active hitting streak to seven games.
concordia started its torrent streak at the plate in the second inning with three straight batters reaching base safely and stolen bases being snagged all around. Rodd's single to center field started the action and she was driven in with a sami mattson (jr., esko, minn.) single. With jamie lindboe (so., eagan, minn.) and mattson lined up at the corners, mattson took off for second base. The beavers cut mattson off, but the play went awry for bsu as lindboe broke for home, reaching safely and drawing a throw that allowed mattson to advance safely to second base.
the errant fielding play was the first of many problems for bemidji state fielders, who finished with five errors in the game. The golden bears tacked on two additional runs after seeing a set of triples hit from anderson and lindboe in the third inning, and the team led 5-0. An especially error-ridden fifth inning put two more unearned runs on the board for concordia. The golden bear bats were still going strong in the sixth inning and cu worked its way to a hefty 10-0 lead, good enough to end the game early.
ashley kluever (fr., cottage grove, minn.) picked up a win from the circle in the second game, completing five innings of work and giving up just one hit. katie feuerbach (fr., iowa city, iowa) saw an inning of pitching as well, throwing the final frame and seeing just three batters thanks to a line drive double play.
concordia's big bats came from anderson and rodd, while other cu swingers picked up solo hit games to drive concordia's hits total to 11. The squad's five unearned runs were spread around the lineup.
