WINONA, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (13-24, 7-7 NSIC) had their bats silenced as #22 Winona State (30-7, 12-0 NSIC) snapped their four-game winning streak with a doubleheader sweep. The Warriors took game one 4-1 and game two 9-0 in five innings.
 
Winona State 4, Concordia St. Paul 1
Winona State pitcher Ashley Walker set the tone for the day as she gave up just three hits and a pair of walks in the complete game as the Warriors rode a four-run fourth to give the victory.
 
Stephanie Kappes (7-14) matched her zeroes for much of the afternoon as her only blemish was the fourth inning rally that proved to be the difference in the game. She allowed three earned runs on seven hits as she struck out two in 6.0 innings of work.
 
Kappes worked out of a jam in the second to keep the Warriors off the board as she pitched around a first and third rally with nobody out.
 
Concordia threatened to take the lead in the top of the third as Navarae Honoroff reached on an error and Elena Koncar singled before Kelly McKenzie sacrificed them into scoring position with one down. Walker answered Kappes' effort as she retired the next two hitters to work out of it.
 
After a pair of 1-2-3 innings, Winona State broke it open in the fourth as they patched together four hits and used a Golden Bear error to hang a four spot on the board. McKenna Larsen drove in a run with a single and Evie Schaller drove in two more with another single to highlight the inning as the other run came across on a fielding error with the bases loaded.
 
The Golden Bears got their lone run of the day the next half inning as Liz Jarosz opened up the fifth with a solo blast to left field for her fourth homer of the year.
 
That would be all Walker would allow as the only other CU hit came off the bat of Nicole Thompson lined a single through the left side in the sixth before being forced out at second later in the inning.
Koncar was the only Concordia hitter to reach base twice in the game as she singled and drew a walk in three trips.
 
Winona State 9, Concordia-St. Paul 0 (5 inn.)
Hannah Lythberg picked up right where Ashley Walker left off as she held the Golden Bears off the board for five innings while her offense did the rest by scoring in every inning to claim a 9-0 win. Lythberg also allowed just three hits as she struck out four and walked none.
 
Walker helped out her fellow pitcher in the first as she greeted CU pitcher Haley Schanks with a two-out homer over the wall in center.
 
Natalie Kalmes added to the lead with her own homer to center in the second before the floodgates opened in the third and the fourth.
 
Schanks came out of the game after the first two hitters collected hits in the third but things wouldn't get much better as Morgan Lintz drove in two and Allyson O'Herron drove in another with the single off reliever Linzy Heim to make it 5-0 through three innings.
 
Lintz added another run with an RBI single in the fourth and Larsen added two more with a double before O'Herron capped it off with her second run scoring single in as many innings as the Warriors put it out of reach at 9-0.
 
The Golden Bears managed to put only one runner in scoring position in the game as Kelly McKenzie singled with two outs in the third and stole second but a groundout ended the inning.
 
Freshmen Haley Schanks and Lizzy Swenson picked up Concordia's other two hits as Schanks singled in the second and Swenson singled in the fifth.
 
Concordia will look to get back on track this weekend at home as they host MSU Moorhead at 3 p.m. on Friday and Northern State at noon on Saturday in a pair of NSIC doubleheaders.