DULUTH, Minn. – The Concordia University softball team (7-20) bounced back from a game one loss to claim a split on the road at Minnesota Duluth (19-10) on Monday afternoon. The Bulldogs claimed the first game 7-4 and the Golden Bears took game two 5-4.
 
The Golden Bears' offense got a boost from the middle of the lineup as Liz Jarosz and Emily Shinn each collected four hits while Jamie Fleischhacker homered and Haley Schanks reached base three times.
 
Minnesota Duluth 7, Concordia-St. Paul 4
For the sixth time this season, the Golden Bears took a lead in a game and were unable to hold on for the victory. Concordia struck first with runs in the second and the third but saw the Bulldogs scored seven runs over the next three innings to seal the win.
 
After the Golden Bears stranded a runner on second in the first, they wasted no time to get on the board in the second. Liz Jarosz opened the inning with a single and Emily Shinn followed it up with a run scoring double. Shinn advanced to third on the play but the Bulldogs worked around the threat the rest of the way and retired the next three hitters.
 
Minnesota Duluth pitcher Cayli Sadler got two quick outs to open the third but Jamie Fleischhacker laced a double down the left field line and Haley Schanks drove a single to bring her home to make it 2-0 in favor of CU.
 
Schanks, the starter in the circle for the Golden Bears, appeared poised to take Concordia into the fourth with a 2-0 lead as she left a runner on first with two down in UMD's half of the third before back-to-back-to-back homers for Becky Smith, Jordan Rice and Alexia Klaas flipped the script and put the Bulldogs up 4-2.
 
Heather Woyak made it four home runs in the span of five UMD hitters as she led off the bottom of the fourth with a blast while Natalie Wright scored on a wild pitch and Jordan Rice brought home another run with a double to extend the lead to 7-2.
 
Concordia did rally in the sixth as Navarae Honoroff hit a sacrifice fly to bring home Shinn and Teona Zepeda reached on an error as Kelly McKenzie came across to cut it to three. They were unable to push any more runs across as Minnesota Duluth finished off a 7-4 win.
 
Emily Shinn paced the offense, going 3-4 with a double, an RBI and a run scored while Liz Jarosz also had a strong game with two hits, including a double.
 
Despite allowing four home runs, Concordia starter Haley Schanks allowed only two other hits and she struck out three in her four innings of work as she took the loss. Linzy Heim worked the final two innings in relief as she allowed two runs on two hits.
 
Concordia-St. Paul 5, Minnesota Duluth 4
The Golden Bears struck first again in the second game of the day as they scored two in the first en route to taking a 4-0 lead through five. The Bulldogs battled back to pull within one but CU held them off to end their losing streak and get back in the win column.
 
Senior Stephanie Kappes (4-11) delivered a winning effort in the circle for Concordia as she worked around 12 hits and four runs while striking out six to snap the losing streak.
 
Teona Zepeda walked to open the game and Nicole Thompson followed with a bunt single to get a rally started in the first but it quickly appeared to fizzle out with the next two hitters being retired. With two down, Jarosz was at it again with an RBI single and Shinn drew a walk to load the bases before a wild pitch brought home Thompson to make it 2-0.
 
After the Bulldogs used the long ball in their favor in game one, Jamie Fleischhacker put one in Concordia's favor to lead off the fourth inning with a shot to right center. She picked up another big hit just one inning later as she drove home Thompson with a single to push the advantage to 4-0.
 
Minnesota Duluth wouldn't go away as they quickly got two runs back in the bottom of the fifth as Natalie Wright drove a two-out, two-run homer to cut the Concordia lead in half at 4-2.
 
Fleischhacker padded the CU lead in the top of the sixth as she collected her third RBI of the game and team-leading 24^th of the season with an RBI groundout that drove in pinch runner Nicole Sparks.
 
Things weren't looking good for the Golden Bears in the final half inning as UMD strung together four consecutive singles to open the inning to put the winning run on base with nobody out. Kappes stepped up in a big way to escape the inning. She forced a fielder's choice that cut down the runner advancing to second base and put runners on the corners with a 5-4 score. The next two hitters were retired via the groundout as Kappes grabbed her fourth win of the season in impressive fashion.
 
Thompson and Jarosz joined Fleischhacker with two-hit games while Zepeda, Shinn and Koncar all reached base twice as well.
 
Concordia will continue a busy week tomorrow as they travel to Southwest Minnesota State before heading to Minnesota State on Wednesday. The Golden Bears wrap up the week with doubleheaders at home on Friday and Saturday.