Softball | 4.20.15

ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (16-31, 10-14 NSIC) is set to close out their regular season road schedule as they travel to take on the University of Sioux Falls (26-18, 12-12 NSIC) on Wednesday afternoon. The crucial NSIC doubleheader is set to begin at 2 p.m.
 
The Golden Bears are coming off a tough weekend in which they dropped doubleheaders at Minot State and U-Mary. Sarah Kivisto proved to be a bright spot for the Golden Bears on the weekend as she collected four hits in nine trips to the plate as she made three starts. She picked up her first career three-hit game on Sunday in game two against the Marauders as she went 3-4 with a pair of doubles, two RBI and three runs scored to raise her season average to an even .300. Teona Zepeda, Nicole Thompson and Emily Shinn all matched her mark with four hits apiece as well.
 
Concordia will look to move above the .500 mark against the Cougars in the all-time series as USF has gone 3-2 in the first five meetings. Sioux Falls picked up a regular season sweep of the Golden Bears last season before CU claimed a 7-5 win in the NSIC/US Bank Tournament and ended their season. Stephanie Kappes picked up the win as she struck out five in the complete game victory.
 
Sioux Falls enters the weekend riding a four-game winning streak as they swept Bemidji State on Friday and Minnesota Crookston on Saturday. The Cougars have shown some power as a team as they have slugged 42 homers in 44 games so far this season. Four players, led by Betsy Thomas' 12 and Shannon Daly's 11, have hit at least seven home runs on the season to form a formidable middle of the order for USF. Thomas also leads the team in hitting as she has hit .357 with a .471 on-base percentage and a .704 slugging percentage.
 
Concordia will return to Carlander Field over the weekend to close out the regular season as they host Wayne State on Saturday and Augustana for Senior Day on Sunday.