ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (12-26, 6-12 NSIC) are set for their final home weekend of the season as they host the University of Mary (12-26, 6-13 NSIC) on Saturday and Minot State (13-24, 2-17 NSIC) on Sunday at Carlander Field.
Sunday's doubleheader marks Senior Day for the Golden Bears as the team will honor
Kelly McKenzie,
Jamie Fleischhacker,
Teona Zepeda and
Frankie Munkwitz. There will be a brief on-field ceremony honoring the four seniors between games.
McKenzie enters the weekend having played in 148 games, starting 116, with a slash line of .252/.352/.300 in 313 career at-bats. The Minnetonka native has shown a solid eye at the plate in her four years as she has drawn 44 walks to help boost her on-base percentage while she also been efficient on the base paths with 32 steals in just 36 attempts in her career. This season, McKenzie delivered her first two homers as a Golden Bear while surpassing the double digit mark in runs batted in with 12. She has also provided a solid defensive presence this year to help stabilize the outfield defense in right.
Fleischhacker, a 2013 All-NSIC First Team selection, has been a mainstay in the CSP lineup for all four years on campus. Switching between third base and the outfield, she has played in 188 games and picked up 140 hits while drawing a program-record 104 walks. Fleischhacker has doubled 24 times and homered 11 while driving in 84 hitting near the top of the Concordia order. The Maplewood native's career .384 career on-base percentage ranks ninth with her 108 runs rank sixth in program history. This year, she has slashed .286/.457/.418 while leading the league with 28 walks to go along with three homers and 13 RBI.
Zepeda, a two-time NSIC All-Academic and 2014 All-NSIC Second Team selection, played nearly every day in her first three seasons as she amassed 142 starts for Concordia. Her .317 career average sits at 11
th and her .385 ranks eighth in CSP history while her 45 steals rank fifth. Zepeda hit at least .290 in each of her three seasons while collecting at least 36 hits and 26 runs each year. She put together her best season as a sophomore as she hit .339 with 24 steals in 25 attempts while scoring 40 runs and driving in 16. Zepeda's senior season was cut short due to injury.
Munkwitz, who will be a three-time NSIC All-Academic selection in addition to earning the Myles Brand Academic with Distinction Award and the Butch Raymond Scholarship, has been a team leader during her career at Concordia. The Glenwood City native has appeared in 48 career games while picking up eight hits. Four of her eight hits have gone for extra bases as she doubled twice as a sophomore before homering in each of the past two seasons. Munkwitz has driven in four runs this season to bring her career total to eight.
Against U-Mary, the Golden Bears hold a slight 13-12 advantage in the all-time series while winning five of the seven meetings in St. Paul. The Marauders have dominated the series recently, however, as they have won the last six in a row over the past two seasons.
The series with Minot State hasn't been quite as extensive as the two teams have met just six times heading into the weekend. The Beavers have won four of the six, including the last three in a row, to grab an early lead in the series. In the only meeting in St. Paul, the two schools split back in 2014.
After the weekend series, the Golden Bears wrap up their home slate with Sioux Falls on Wednesday.