ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - The Concordia University softball team (5-15) fell to 2-4 in the MWSU Softball Invitational with a 7-2 loss to Missouri Western State (19-13) and a 6-2 loss to Central Missouri.
The pair of games wrapped up the nonconference schedule for the Golden Bears as they open NSIC play this Wednesday against Minnesota State.
The invitational featured six teams from the NSIC and six teams from the MIAA as the two leagues met for 36 games. The NSIC claimed the edge in the series by going 20-16.
GAME ONE: Missouri Western State 7, Concordia-St. Paul 2
The Golden Bears collected nine hits to MWSU's six, but timely hitting proved to be the difference in the game. The Golden Bears stranded eight runners in the game and were unable to pick up the big hit to stay in it.
CU loaded the bases in the first, but had nothing to show for it as a two-out, foul out ended the inning.
Missouri Western carried the momentum into the bottom of the inning and put a three-spot on the board, capped by a Katie Klosterman two-run homer.
After a
Cassie Bertelsen double and
Navarae Honoroff single and steal,
Bekah Roth got two runs back for the Golden Bears with a single up the middle.
The Griffons came right back with two in the second and another in the third to push the lead out to 6-2 before adding an insurance run in the fifth to bring to a final score of 7-2.
Brooke Schaben dealt the big blow for MWSU in the second with a two-run home run of her own and Klosterman picked up another RBI with a single in the fifth.
Roth stayed hot for Concordia with a three-hit game with two RBI to extend her hit streak to five game, with three of them being multi-hit games. She is now hitting .323 on the year with 19 RBI.
Honoroff picked up her fourth multi-hit game in the last five games as she went 2-3 with a run scored to bump her season average to .347.
Stephanie Kappes (3-10) went the distance in the circle for the Golden Bears, giving up six hits and six earned runs with four strikeouts in her six innings of work.
GAME TWO: Central Missouri 6, Concordia-St. Paul 2
Concordia played some small ball in the first as
Alicia Meiser and
Teona Zepeda each swiped a bag and
Navarae Honoroff brought them home with a single to center.
Stealing bases has been a calling card of the Golden Bears all season as they extended their streak to an incredible 46 stolen bases without being thrown out to start the year. CU stole four bases total in the game and 22 for in their six games in the invitational.
Linzy Heim kept the Jennies quiet until a double resulted in an unearned run in the third to cut the CU lead in half.
Central Missouri struck again to take the lead in the fifth with a big five run inning on five hits and a pair of errors as Heim was charged with just three earned runs.
CU was unable to get anything going in the sixth and seventh as they went down in order to close the game. The Golden Bear offense only mustered one hit after the first inning.
Heim (2-5) held the Jennies to just six hits and three earned runs in the complete game effort but took the loss for Concordia.
Honoroff continued where she left off in game one where as she picked up her fifth multi-hit game in the last six with another two hit game.
