KISSIMMEE, Fla. - Senior right handed pitcher
Ashley Kluever (Cottage Grove, Minn.) threw her fifth consecutive shutout while extending her scoreless inning streak to 34.0 with Concordia-St. Paul's (13-5)
2-0 win over Walsh University (3-1). She carried a no-hitter into the seventh inning, allowing a leadoff double to start the seventh as her only hit allowed. Prior to that, the Golden Bears
defeated Rockhurst University (4-4) 4-2 at Osceola Softball Complex at the Rebel Spring Games.
The two wins extend Concordia's winning streak to nine games as they complete a perfect 8-game spring trip. The two runs allowed to Rockhurst match the total allowed by Concordia in the other eight games combined, as the CU pitchers have allowed four runs in the 9-game winning streak.
Kluever has been the catalyst of the pitching staff with five consecutive shutouts. She's thrown three 1-hitters and a 2-hitter in her last four appearances and has allowed 10 hits during the 34.0 inning streak, striking out 49 in the process. The double was the first extra base hit she's allowed during the shutout streak.
GAME 1: Concordia 4, Rockhurst 2
Rockhurst scored i the first inning and went ahead 2-0 with a run in the third and maintained the 2-run lead until the bottom of the fifth inning.
In the bottom of the fifth with two outs,
Alicia Meiser (Circle Pines, Minn.) doubled followed by a
Teona Zepeda (Woodbury, Minn.) single to give the Golden Bears runners on second and third with two outs. Freshman
Jamie Fleischhacker (Maplewood, Minn.) delivered a 2-out, 2-run double to tie the game heading into the late innings. It was Fleischhacker's fifth double of the year.
Right hander
Stephanie Kappes (Circle Pines, Minn.) pitched around a leadoff double in the sixth inning, stranding two Rockhurst runners on first and second.
In the bottom of the sixth, senior
Brynn Larsen (Oconto Falls, Wis.) led off with a single and was moved to second on a sacrifice bunt by junior
Bekah Roth (Shoreview, Minn.). She scored on
Katie Feuerbach's (Iowa City, Iowa) RBI single to give the Golden Bears the lead. She'd score later in the inning to give Kappes a 2-run lead with three outs to play.
Kappes struck out the first two batters of the seventh inning and stranded a 2-out single to shut the door. Kappes went the distance, allowing two runs on six hits with nine strikeouts and two walks. She improves to 5-2 on the year while pushing her ERA under 3.00 at 2.98.
Meiser went 2-4 with her 19th stolen base and
Tessa Ewert went 2-3.
GAME 2: Concordia 2, Walsh 0
The two teams played scoreless softball for three innings before Roth drove a 2-run home run to the opposite field in right center to give Kluever a 2-run cushion. It was Roth's second homer of the year and made up for the third inning when Concordia left the bases loaded with one out.
Unlike most opponents during Kluever's streak, though, Walsh put a runner in scoring position three times in the game. Senior catcher
Missie Feuerbach (Iowa City, Iowa) picked a runner off second base in the second inning with two outs to snap that scoring opportunity. In the fourth, Walsh's leadoff hitter reached second to start the inning on a two base error with Kluever retiring the next three hitters while picking up a strikeout to end the inning.
In the seventh, Walsh's leadoff double advanced to third on a wild pitch before Kluever struck out the side in order to preserve the shutout and the victory.
She improved to 8-3 with the win and has won seven straight decisions including her last six starts of which five have been shutouts. In today's gem, Kluever only walked one while striking out a season-high 12. She lowered her season ERA to 2.21 and now has 72 strikeouts in 57.0 innings.
Larsen went 2-2 in the game, stroking her third double and stealing her ninth base of the year. She went 3-5 in the doubleheader.
Concordia returns to snowy Minnesota with nearly three weeks off following the spring trip. They return to action at the Missouri Western Regional Crossover where they'll play six games in three days in St. Joseph, Mo. from Mar. 22-24.
