ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Concordia University softball team (0-3) wrapped up the opening day of the season with a pair of losses to Emporia State and Central Missouri on Thursday night at the Kelly Laas Memorial Invitational. The Golden Bears fell to the Hornets 9-0 (5 inn.) before dropping a heartbreaker 8-7 to Central Missouri.
 
#17 Emporia State 9, Concordia-St. Paul 0 (5 inn.)

Runs were hard to come by for the second consecutive game for the Golden Bears as the Hornets picked up all the run support they needed in the first inning.
 
Caitlin VanVleck opened up the scoring as she reached base via an error and scored on a wild pitch with one down. Stephanie Goodwin and Jessica Gragg followed it up with a pair of solo homers in the first to put Emporia State up 3-0 before Concordia even came to the plate.
 
Eryn Stockman took it from there for ESU as she held CU scoreless for five innings as she collected the shutout win. She allowed three hits and a pair of walks while striking out three.
 
The Hornets tacked on two runs each inning for the next three innings as they pulled away from the Golden Bears. Goodwin added two more RBI with a double in the second, two runs scored on a wild pitch in the third and Kaitlyn Caston drove in a pair with a single in the fourth to make it 9-0.
 
Concordia put up their biggest threat in the third inning as Kelly McKenzie drew a walk and Teona Zepeda singled with one out before advancing to second and third on a groundout. Another groundout ended the inning before the Golden Bears could bring either runner across.
 
In addition to Zepeda's single, Haley Schanks and Sarah Kivisto added their first career hits with pinch-hit singles to give the team three hits for the game.
 
Linzy Heim (0-1) picked up her first start of the season, but lasted just 1.1 innings before being relieved by Stephanie Kappes. Kappes worked the final 3.2 innings.
 
 
Central Missouri 8, Concordia-St. Paul 7

The Golden Bears appeared poised to grab their first win of the season before a seventh-inning rally gave the Jennies a walk-off win in the nightcap.
 
Katie Giacone, Makayla Schoonover and Alex Leonhart all delivered RBI singles in the bottom of the seventh to turn 7-5 Concordia lead into an 8-7 Central Missouri victory.
 
Haley Schanks received her first collegiate start in the circle for the Golden Bears and navigated her way through five walks as she allowed just one hit and two runs, no earned, while striking out four in four innings of work, but was unable to pick up the win as the Jennies scored six runs over the final two innings.
 
The Concordia offense came to life in the third game of the day as they smacked 14 hits and scored seven runs while five different players collected multi-hit games. Teona Zepeda, Nicole Thompson and Kelly McKenzie all collected three hits while Jamie Fleischhacker and Elena Koncar each added a pair of hits.
 
Zepeda and Thompson got things rolling in the top of the third with two singles to lead off the inning before Fleishhacker opened the scoring with a run-scoring single before Lizzy Swenson doubled home two more runs to make it 3-0.
 
Fleischhacker picked up her second RBI of the game with a single that brought home McKenzie in the fourth and extended the lead to 4-0.
 
Two walks to lead off the bottom of the fourth set the stage for an error that brought home both runners to cut the Golden Bear lead in half at 4-2.
 
In the top of the sixth, McKenzie doubled to open the inning and Thompson singled with one down before an error brought home McKenzie and moved Thompson up to third. Fleischhacker followed it up with her third run-scoring at-bat as she sent a sacrifice fly out to right field to bring home the sixth run for Concordia.
The Jennies jumped on Stephanie Kappes in the bottom of the sixth as they used a used a squeeze bunt to bring home a run before Katie Giacone launched a pinch-hit, two-run home run to close the gap to 6-5.
 
Koncar got a run back for the Golden Bears in the top of the seventh as she drove in Sarah Kivisto, who reached base via a walk and was sacrificed into scoring position, to push the lead to 7-5 but Concordia was unable to hang on for the win.
 
Kappes (0-2) took the loss for the Golden Bears as she allowed six runs in 2.2 innings in relief of Schanks.
 
Jakki Prater collected the win for Central Missouri as she allowed three runs, two earned, in 3.2 innings of relief of starter Jessica Wilkes.
 
Concordia returns to the field tomorrow morning as they take on Nebraska-Kearney at 10 a.m. and Fort Hays State at 12:30 p.m.