st. Paul, minn. - there will be a new record put into concordia's record book after a doubleheader sweep extended the golden bears' winning streak today at carlander field. Taking 7-1 and 5-0 wins against the university of mary, concordia university has now won 15 straight games, the longest known streak in program history. The wins bumped the golden bears to 30-8 on the year and 18-2 in nsic play, the second best record in the league. Concordia has a 12-0 record in games at carlander field this season. game 1 box - game 2 box

game 1
concordia pitcher ashley kluever brought a one-hit game into the seventh inning of the day's opening game, her golden bears just shy of ending the decision early with a 7-0 lead through five innings. The marauders pegged two late hits on two outs in the seventh to end the shutout and run their hits total up to three, but a foul fly finished things off and gave kluever her 11th win of the season. The freshman now has an 11-2 overall record.

the golden bears scored one run in the second, laying down back-to-back sacrifice bunts to advance the runners, tiff rodd charging in for the score after missie feuerbach laid down a beauty of a sacrifice to allow space for the run.

the second inning saw two more runs added one with heady base running and more small ball being used. sami mattson had the drive of the game in the fifth inning, grand-slamming a knock over the left center fence to notch four runs with a single swing. The golden bears had all of the momentum and a 7-0 lead.

the marauders got their best swing of the game with a double in the final frame, the runner coming around to score following a teammate's single. But after managing only three hits in the game, the university of mary fell to their 7-1 fate.

mattson topped the list with four rbi in the grad slam. She officially went 2-for-2 with an additional single and a sac bunt in the game. jamie lindboe rapped out to singles for a two-hit game as well. The golden bears walked five times and had seven total hits in the game. Kluever struck out four in the win.

game 2
game two was more of a battle for the golden bears, who stayed resilient and refused to end their winning streak or drop a decision on their new home field. Two runs went up in the second inning with a jamie lindboe solo homer and sami mattson scoring on a sacrifice fly after getting to base with a walk. But a 2-0 lead never felt comfortable against the marauders, who were patient and forced concordia to make some great fielding plays.

concordia got increasingly patient against u-mary starter brenda langston, walking back-to-back batters in lengthy plate appearances in the fourth. Although both runners were stranded in that inning, the golden bears finally got to langston and forced her out of the game in the fifth. Runners were at the corners with two outs when mattson stepped to the dish. Falling behind 0-2, mattson fought off a number of pitches until she found a ball she liked and singled to left center field, the ball falling in between three chasing marauder defenders. calli brennan scored on the play and langston was soon driven from the circle.

the golden bears would tack on an unearned run off of a passed ball before the inning closed and took a more comfortable 4-0 lead into the sixth. Cu starter cassye mcmahon worked an extremely efficient top of the sixth, forcing a ground out and set of pop ups to get her team back on the offensive. anna bjorlin reached on an error to start the sixth and scored unearned off of the bat of brennan, cu leading 5-0. Mcmahon gave up her second hit of the game in the seventh, but got the marauders to ground out for all three outs of the seventh and earn the win, improving to 8-0 on the year.

mattson again went through the game without being put out, earning two walks and singling for a 1-for-1 performance. Lindboe was the only cu player with two hits, the team combining for another seven in the win.

concordia's defense has been a huge asset in their push to emerge as one of the region's best teams. Although errors were committed in both games, the golden bears have buckled down and erased almost all extra bases or outs given up to opponents. Defensive errors have only led to one unearned error in the past four sets of doubleheaders. Additionally, concordia has turned 25 double plays this season, the highest number in the nsic.

the golden bears will be tested in their remaining matchups of the regular season, heading to winona state on wednesday afternoon and then hosting #24 wayne state and #12 augustana college in the final games of the regular slate next weekend. The nsic tournament will be held may 7-8 at the site of the nsic's regular season champion, yet to be determined.