BENTONVILLE, Ark. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (2-4) concluded its season opening weekend at the 7-State Classic with a pair of losses, 6-4 to Henderson State and 8-5 to tournament host Arkansas-Monticello.
GAME 1: Henderson State 6, Concordia-St. Paul 4
Henderson State's Sarah Gipson delivered a two-run home run to right center with no outs in the bottom of the seventh inning.
Concordia took the first lead in the game with two runs in the first inning off an RBI double by
Brynn Larsen (Oconto Falls, Wis.) and an RBI single by
Bekah Roth (Shoreview, Minn.).
Henderson State rallied back with a solo home run by Kayla Williams in the second inning and scored three more in the third inning to claim its first lead, 4-2.
The Golden Bears came back, though, scoring on an error in the fourth inning before
Tessa Ewert (Hutchinson, Minn.) tied the game with a solo homer to right center in the sixth.
Stephanie Kappes (Circle Pines, Minn.) started and worked 5.0 innings, allowing four runs on nine hits and did not factor into the decision.
Ashley Kluever (Cottage Grove, Minn.) took the loss in relief, falling to 1-2.
Roth went 2-4 while Ewert was 2-3.
Alicia Meiser (Circle Pines, Minn.) continued her strong start with a 1-2 game, also drawing a walk and stealing three bases.
GAME 2: Arkansas-Monticello 8, Concodia-St. Paul 5 (box score to be posted Monday morning)
The Golden Bears came out strong in their 7-State Classic finale, scoring four runs in the first inning sparked by a two-run home run by Roth.
But the tournament host added runs in each of the first four innings while handing Kluever her second loss of the day, falling to 1-3 on the year. She gave up six of the eight runs while Kappes allowed the other two over three innings of relief.
The Concordia offense performed well, with
Katie Feuerbach (Iowa City, Iowa) going 3-3 at the plate with two singles and a double.
Jamie Fleischhacker (Maplewood, Minn.), Meiser and
Brynn Larsen (Oconto Falls, Wis.) all had two hits as well.
Concordia returns to action at the Central Regional Crossover at the RCTC Dome in Rochester, Minn. with five games this weekend from Friday, February 22 to Sunday, February 24.