ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (16-35, 10-18 NSIC) was unable to slow down Wayne State (32-18, 17-11 NSIC) as they were swept on Saturday afternoon at Carlander Field. The Wildcats claimed game one 9-4 and game two 9-3.
 
Wayne State 9, Concordia-St. Paul 4
The Wildcats opened the scoring in the first inning as they used a leadoff walk followed by three straight one-out singles to bring home two runs. Kaiti Williams and Sam O'Brien delivered the run-scoring hits in the inning as Wayne State built an early advantage.
 
Wayne State added to their lead in the third and the fourth as they pushed the score to 5-0. O'Brien picked up her second hit of the game as she laced a double into the gap in right center with two down which allowed Williams to score from first with the help of an errant throw from the outfield.
 
The Wildcats got some help from Concordia again in the fourth as they committed two errors to open the inning to put runners on second and third with nobody out. After a bunt failed to score a run, Lexie Loos brought home the lead runner with an RBI groundout. Jordan King tacked on the fifth run of the game as she sent a single to right to bring home another run.
 
Concordia cut into the deficit in their half of the fourth as Sarah Kivisto fought hard to draw a walk and Navarae Honoroff stung a single to left to set the stage for Elena Koncar. Koncar took a 3-1 offering and deposited it over the wall in left field for her third homer of the season as she pulled CU within two at 5-3.
 
The momentum would be short-lived as the Wildcats responded with two more runs in the top of the fifth. Concordia starter Stephanie Kappes appeared to have worked out of a jam in the inning as she coaxed a fly ball to left with two outs and runners on first and second but the sun peeked through the clouds to cause Zepeda to lose it which allowed both runners to score.
 
Wayne State pushed their lead in the top of the seventh as catcher Megan Hagemann drove a two-run home run to left to make it 9-3.
 
Frankie Munkwitz provided a late highlight for the Golden Bears as she drilled her first career homer as she lifted one over left field wall to lead off the bottom seventh. Concordia was unable to add any more in the inning as WSC closed out the 9-4 win.
 
Kappes (10-20) took the loss for the Golden Bears as she allowed nine runs (six earned) in the complete game effort. The senior pitched better than the numbers indicated as she struck out five in the game.
 
Sara Scheffert (7-6) picked up the win as she worked the first 5.0 innings and allowed three runs while striking out four. Cassey Miller came in to pitch the final 2.0 innings, allowing just the solo homer to Munkwitz.
 
Teona Zepeda, Haley Schanks and Navarae Honoroff led the way for the Golden Bears with two hits apiece while Koncar and Munkwitz added their homers and Jarosz chipped in a single.
 
Wayne State 9, Concordia-St. Paul 3
Despite a strong wind blowing in from center field, the Wildcats utilized the long ball to grab the lead. Melanie Alyea put WSC on the board in the second inning as she sent a fly ball to dead center that just cleared the wall for a solo homer. Sam O'Brien extended the lead in the third as she hammered a pitch onto the street in left field to bring home Williams and Kelcie Bormann to make it 4-0.
 
The lead temporarily reached five as Alyea drove an RBI single to right field in the fourth, but Concordia answered with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning. Nicole Thompson broke up the no-hitter as she led off the inning with a bunt single before swiping second base and moving up to third on a ground out. Liz Jarosz followed with a hard grounder to short that brought home Thompson.
 
Kelcie Bormann helped her own cause in the fifth as sent her seventh homer of the season over the fence in left to drive in Williams and push the Wildcats' lead to 7-1.
 
The Golden Bears mirrored Wayne State for the second consecutive inning as they got both runs back in the bottom of the fifth. The bottom of the order did much of the damage in the inning as Kelly McKenzie and Sarah Kivisto singled with one down and Elena Koncar drove a double down the line to bring in McKenzie. Kivisto later came in to score on a fielder's choice off the bat of Thompson.
 
The power surge continued for the Wildcats in the sixth as Megan Hagemann sent her second homer of the day out to deep left center for a two-run shot to bring the score to 9-3.
 
That would be more than enough run support for Bormann (17-8) as she shut the door and held the Golden Bears off the board the rest of the way. She struck out nine and allowed just three runs on five hits in the complete game win.
 
Haley Schanks (4-9) took the loss after working into the third before giving way to Amber Galloway. Galloway worked the next two innings before Linzy Heim came in and worked the final three innings.
 
Sarah Kivisto led the CU offense with two hits as the bottom three in the order picked up four of the five hits.
 
Concordia will close out the season tomorrow as they host #11 Augustana in a doubleheader. The Golden Bears will honor Stephanie Kappes between games for Senior Day. First pitch is set for 12 p.m.