ST. CLOUD, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (3-4) got off to a strong start in the Kelly Laas Memorial Tournament as they claimed wins over Fort Hays State (1-5) and Central Missouri (5-7) on Thursday night in the Husky Dome.
 
The Golden Bear offense carried the load in the first game of the night while their pitching and defense came through in the later game to complete the sweep in the first day of action in St. Cloud.
 
Concordia-St. Paul 11, Fort Hays State 8
After hanging five on the board in the bottom of the first, the Golden Bears saw two leads disappear before putting up four runs between the fifth and the sixth to secure an 11-8 win. All nine CSP starters reached base as they hammered out 13 hits and drew six walks in the win.
 
Concordia wasted little time getting things going offensively as Carlie Hart and Nicole Thompson drew walks to open their half of the first before Haley Schanks drove in Hart with a fielder's choice with one down. After Jamie Fleischhacker walked to load the bases, the rally looked to be coming to an end after a strikeout, but Elena Koncar delivered a two-run single and Lizzy Swenson followed with a two-run double with two down to extend the lead to 5-0 before the end of the frame.
 
The Tigers closed the gap all the way to one in the next half inning as two runs came home on a Chermayne Yago single before Paxton Duran sent a two-run homer to right field with two down to make it 5-4.
 
The Golden Bears went quietly in the second before Tori Beltz drove one over the wall in center to even the score in the top of the third.
 
Concordia quickly regained the lead in their half of the inning as Liz Jarosz singled and Swenson walked before the two moved into scoring position on a wild pitch. It was Sarah Kivisto's turn to deliver the run-scoring single this time as she sent one to left to bring home both runners.
 
That lead remained until the top of the fifth when Kylie Stand and Courtney Dobson each drove in runs with singles to tie it up again at 7-7.
 
Once again, CSP answered right back with two of their own to take the lead for good. Swenson and Kivisto got the rally started with a pair of singles to lead off the inning before Carlie Hart moved them into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt. Nicole Thompson brought home the go-ahead run with a sacrifice fly to center before Justine Schattner added an insurance run with an RBI double one batter later.
 
The Golden Bears followed nearly the exact same recipe for success in the sixth as Fleischhacker and Jarosz singled before Koncar moved them up with a bunt. This time Swenson delivered the sacrifice fly while Kivisto added the run-scoring hit to make it 11-7.
 
Tori Beltz got one back in the seventh with her second homer of the game, but that would be it for the Tigers as Concordia held on for the 11-8 win.
 
Kivisto and Jarosz led the way with three hits apiece for the Golden Bears as Kivisto drove in three and also drew a walk while Jarosz scored twice. Swenson also had a big day as she went 2-2 with a walk and three RBI on the night.
 
Linzy Heim (2-1) picked up the complete game win for CSP as she allowed eight hits and struck out one in the victory.
 
Paxton Duran (1-3) took the loss as she allowed six earned runs in 5.1 innings of relief for the Tigers.
 
Concordia-St. Paul 6, Central Missouri 2
Concordia jumped out to an early lead again in the nightcap and held onto that lead throughout on the heels of a stellar performance in the circle for Haley Schanks as she delivered her best outing of the young season in a winning effort.
 
Schanks (1-3) picked up her first win as she limited the Jennies to just a pair of runs on six hits as she struck out three in the complete game effort. After allowing single runs in the second and third, Schanks held UCM off the board over the final four innings to close out the victory.
 
The Golden Bears opening the scoring in the opening frame as they put together a two-out rally to take the decisive lead. With two down and a runner on first, Schanks was hit by a pitch, Fleischhacker walked and Schattner, the lead runner, came home to score on a wild pitch. Jarosz followed with her fourth hit of the day as two more runs came on an infield single as CSP grabbed a 3-0 lead.
 
The Jennies got one back in the second as a pair of doubles to lead off the inning brought home the first run, but that would be all as Schanks retired the next three hitters in a row.
 
Central Missouri threatened again in the third with two hits to start the inning, but Schanks once again limited the damage as just one run came across on an RBI groundout.
 
That would be all that UCM could muster against Schanks as they were held to lone singles in the fifth and the seventh as no more runners even reached scoring position.
 
Concordia added three insurance runs in their half of the fifth to really put the game away as Hart and Thompson singled and doubled, respectively, Fleischhacker drew a walk and all three came around to score. Hart came home on a wild pitch before Jarosz, staying red hot, picked up her fifth hit of the day with a two-run double to bring the score to the final mark of 6-2.
 
In addition to Jarosz's second straight multi-hit game, Thompson also chipped in a pair of hits as well to pace Concordia.
 
The Golden Bears are back in action tomorrow morning at 9:30 a.m. against Nebraska Kearney before wrapping up play in the Kelly Laas Memorial Tournament against Emporia State and #16 Missouri Western State on Saturday.