LIVE STATS LINKS: at Wayne State || vs Augustana
ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul head softball coach
Bob Bartel has announced that this weekend's home games have been relocated due to the latest winter storm that dumped six-plus inches on campus. The team will play at Wayne State in Wayne, Neb. on Saturday, with the doubleheader starting at 2 p.m. Sunday's games against Augustana will be played on Augie's home field at noon and 2 p.m.
|
Rk |
Central Region Rankings |
DII W-L |
Reg W-L |
|
1 |
Fort Hays State (MIAA) |
35-7 |
32-4 |
|
2 |
Southeastern Oklahoma (GAC) |
36-7 |
35-7 |
|
3 |
Minnesota State (NSIC) |
25-7 |
18-4 |
|
4 |
Central Oklahoma (GAC) |
33-7 |
30-6 |
|
5 |
Winona State (NSIC) |
20-6 |
16-5 |
|
6 |
Augustana (NSIC) |
22-8 |
15-6 |
|
7 |
Minot State (NSIC) |
21-5 |
14-4 |
|
8 |
Missouri Western State (MIAA) |
29-11 |
25-9 |
|
9 |
Emporia State (MIAA) |
27-12 |
27-12 |
|
10 |
Truman (MIAA) |
21-13 |
21-13 |
In addition to Concordia, Minnesota State (Mankato) has also had to relocate games to the Wayne State/Augustana area. The four teams are among the top teams in the Northern Sun this season, making this weekend's action compelling for NSIC championship implications, conference tournament seeding as well as NCAA Central Region Ranking purposes.
Concordia will face the top team in the conference, Wayne State, first before facing the sixth-ranked team in the region, Augustana. The weekend test provides an excellent opportunity for the team to move up the NSIC ladder and to gain serious consideration for next week's regional rankings.
EXTENDED HOT STREAK SLOWS DOWN
The squad has been incredibly hot after a pedestrian start, blazing to a 19-4 record over the last 23 games. But the recent history suggests the sense of urgency to get turned around. Concordia has dropped two of its last three games and is 5-3 over the past eight.
Mr. 300?
Concordia head coach
Bob Bartel is just three wins shy of joining the 300-club. He's 297-178 in his ninth year as Golden Bear head softball coach. With four games this weekend, Bartel is within striking distance of the major coaching milestone.
TEAM HITTING COMPARISON
The Golden Bears enter the weekend hitting .311/.364/.448 as a team, while Wayne State counters at .328/.408/.429 and ranks second in the league in hitting. Augustana also hits well, at .303/.384/.453. The Vikings also feature power, with 34 team home runs compared to Concordia's 21 and Wayne State's 12. The Golden Bears are tied for the conference lead in team stolen bases (57) with Minnesota State while Augustana has stolen 33 bases while Wayne State has just 16 steals which is nearly half the total of
Alicia Meiser.
All three teams average between 5.25 and 6.0 runs per game offensively as well.
TEAM PITCHING COMPARISON
By contrast, Augustana holds a team 2.34 earned run average while Wayne State is 2.58 and Concordia is at 3.00, suggesting the teams' season resume's are all very similar statistically. Concordia's pitchers rank second in the league with 7.45 strikeouts per 7 innings, while Augustana is sixth at 6.88 and Wayne State eight at 5.3.
MEISER LEADS-OFF
Meiser leads the Golden Bear offense from the top of the order with a current 13-game hitting streak and 22-game reached base streak (H, BB, HBP) and with her speed essentially turns infield singles, walks and hit by pitch into doubles with her league-high 31 steals. She also ranks seventh in the league in hitting (.412) and on base percentage (.486). Meiser's .97 steals per game also ranks fourth in the nation.
LARSEN DRIVES THE BALL
Concordia's offense also features
Brynn Larsen, leading the team and sixth in the league hitting (.422) and leading the team and ninth in the league in slugging (.711) while her .461 OBP is just behind Meiser in eighth in the league.
MISSIE DOUBLES DOWN
Concordia's catcher and clean-up hitter
Missie Feuerbach has smashed a team-high 11 doubles, is hitting .330 and has 19 RBI with a .500 slugging percentage. She's also gunned down 28% of base stealers, throwing out seven of 25 attemtped runners.
ROOKIE IMPACT
Concordia features a pair of freshmen batting in key spots in the lineup,
Teona Zepeda second and
Jamie Fleischhacker third. Zepeda is among the fastest players on the team and is hitting .329 with a .361 OBP with 21 runs scored in 25 games. Fleischhacker is hitting .359/.417/.467 as a rookie slugger with seven doubles, a homer and 22 RBI. Later in the lineup,
Lindsey Kamleiter adds power with three homers, a .324 average and .622 slugging percentage while working her way into the lineup with 12 starts and 19 games played.
CONCORDIA PITCHING
The Golden Bear pitching staff is anchored by
Ashley Kluever's second-ranked strikeout rate in the conference (9.0 K/7) and a 14-5 record in the circle. She also holds opposing bats to a .205 average over 102.0 innings. Kluever also leads the league and is sixth in the country with eight shutouts.
Stephanie Kappes leads the pitchers with a 2.79 ERA, ranking eighth in the league; and has nine victories.
AUGUSTANA LEADERS
Concordia will have to slow down Augustana's Janelle Trautmann, a tremendous two-way player leading the country in home runs per game (0.52), having slugged 17 on the season. She also ranks sixth in the country in wins (22) and is seventh in the league with a 1.74 ERA over 173.0 innings with 172 strikeouts.
WILDCAT LEADERS
The Wildcats are led at the plate by Kelcie Bormann with a .434 average, .560 OBP while adding a pair of saves as a pitcher. Sara Scheffert leads the pitchers with 11 wins and three shutouts. Sam O'Brien brings the muscle to the plate, leading the team in slugging (.617), RBI (31) and home runs (6).
SERIES HISTORY
Concordia is 5-14 all-time against Augustana and the Vikings have won eight straight in the series … Concordia is 1-7 against Augie in NSIC games and 1-3 against them at home … the Golden Bears and Wildcats will meet for the 33rd time with the series deadlocked at 16-16 … Concordia has won the last three games against Wayne State after WSC had defeated Concordia seven-straight times and 12 of 13 … the teams are 13-13 head-to-head in NSIC contests and Concordia is 7-5 against WSC in home games.
WITHOUT A HOME | UPCOMING STRETCH RUN
The Golden Bears have no scheduled home games remaining in the 2013 season and were not able to play any games on their home Carlander Field. In addition to this weekend's relocated road trip to Wayne State and Augustana, Concordia will travel to Marshall, Minn. to play SMSU next Wednesday, and are scheduled to play at St. Cloud State and Minnesota Duluth next Saturday and Sunday.
