LAS VEGAS, Nev. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (1-4) dropped a wild game to Nebraska-Kearney (3-2) by a score of 11-10 to close out action in the Desert Stinger Tournament on Sunday afternoon.
 
Concordia led 6-1 heading into the bottom of the fifth before the Lopers scored 10 runs in their final two trips to the plate as the two teams combined for 14 runs over the last three innings of the game.
 
Justine Schattner had another big game at the plate as she went 3-4 with a big homer and three RBI while Nicole Thompson and Haley Schanks each had a pair of hits and drove in a pair as well. CSP put up 10 hits, including three doubles and the home run in the loss.
 
It was the Lopers who struck first as they took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first. UNK used a sun-aided double to begin the inning before a steal and a sacrifice fly brought home the game's first run.
 
That lead wouldn't last long as the Golden Bears answered back with four runs in the top of the second. Liz Jarosz and Jamie Fleischhacker drew walks to start the inning before Haley Schanks tied the score with a single up the middle. Koncar followed with another run-scoring single to left to put CSP up 2-1. Later on in the inning with two outs and the bases loaded, Nicole Thompson drew an RBI walk and Justine Schattner looped a single over the head of the first baseman to bring the score to 4-1.
 
The third inning started in the exact same manner as Jarosz and Fleischhacker both drew walks to lead off the frame. After they moved up on a passed ball, Jarosz scored on a roller right out in front of the plate as she beat the throw to the plate before Lizzy Swenson laid down a perfect squeeze bunt to score Fleischhacker and extend the Golden Bear lead to 6-1.
 
The lead stayed at five until the bottom of the fifth when the Nebraska-Kearney bats came to life. UNK put up back-to-back singles before Kate Ruwe drove one over the wall in left center to cut it to 6-4. An error and a pair of walks loaded the bases before another walk and an error brought home two more runs to even it up at 6-6. Schanks, who came in earlier in the inning to relieve Linzy Heim, picked up a strikeout to leave the bases loaded and keep the game tied.
 
The Golden Bears grabbed the lead right back the next half inning as Swenson laced a double down the line in left to get things started. After the next two hitters were retired, Thompson came through with a big single up the middle to score Swenson to make it 7-6. Schattner followed with her second late-inning home run of the weekend to extend the lead to 9-6.
 
That lead would not last as the Lopers responded with five more runs in the bottom of the inning. Nebraska-Kearney put together four hits and a walk to go along with a pair of Concordia errors to take their first lead since the first inning at 11-9 heading into the seventh.
 
Things got off to a solid start in the seventh as the Golden Bears looked to stay alive and extend the game. Fleischhacker and Schanks doubled back-to-back to start the inning to cut the deficit in half before a wild pitch put the tying run on third with nobody out. A fielder's choice cut down the runner at the plate before the next two hitters were retired to end the game.
 
Schanks (0-3) took the loss after coming in to work the final 1.2 innings while Nicole Larnsen picked up the win in relief for the Lopers. Meg Householder collected the save after working out of trouble in the seventh.