Softball | 3.14.16
ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (6-8) closes out the non-conference season this weekend as they take on six MIAA opponents in the Apple Market Classic on the campus of Missouri Western State.
The Golden Bears are set to take on Pittsburg State and Central Oklahoma on Friday, Northwest Missouri State and Washburn on Saturday, and Central Missouri and Missouri Southern on Sunday.
This marks the fourth straight season that the Golden Bears have been scheduled to wrap up their non-conference slate in St. Joseph, Mo. at the Apple Market Classic with the event becoming a mainstay on the schedule for CSP. Concordia will look to improve their luck in the competition after picking up a pair of wins in 12 contests over the past two seasons.
The Golden Bears enter competition after a nearly three-week layoff since facing off against some NSIC foes in non-league action in St. Cloud. CSP ended that weekend on a high note as they swept on Sunday, winning 11-8 against Bemidji State and 25-8 in five innings against Minnesota Crookston. The 25 runs against the Golden Eagles set a new DII-era program record for runs scored in a game.
Through 14 games this season, the Concordia offense has been the story as they have delivered a solid team slash line of .314/.403/.447. The quintet of
Nicole Thompson (team-leading .468 batting average),
Justine Schattner (.420),
Liz Jarosz (.386),
Elena Koncar (.324) and
Jamie Fleischhacker (.500 on-base percentage) has been especially impressive at the plate in the early going. Schattner, a freshman shortstop, leads the squad by a wide margin with 18 RBI to go along with a pair of home runs while Fleischhacker has scored a team-best 16 runs so far.
Entering into the opener against Pittsburg State on Friday, CSP holds a record of 3-1 in four previous meetings against the Gorillas. Concordia won the last meeting 3-2 in 2014.
Friday's contest with Central Oklahoma marks just the second meeting between the two schools as UCO won the first meeting 8-6 last season.
The Golden Bears have faced both Saturday's opponent's a few more times as they enter those contests with a record of 3-4 against Northwest Missouri State and a record of 3-3 against Washburn. Both teams handed CSP losses in last season's Apple Market Classic.
Closing out play on the weekend, Concordia will face Central Missouri for the second time this season after claiming a 6-2 win back on Feb. 18
th and the ninth time overall as they sit at 2-6 in the all-time series before taking on Missouri Southern for the fourth time with a record of 1-2.
Live stats will be available for the Missouri Southern game on Sunday afternoon.
