CROOKSTON, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (13-26, 5-13 NSIC) snapped their losing streak with a sweep of Minnesota Crookston (11-28-1, 1-16-1) Saturday afternoon.
Liz Jarosz finished with three home runs on the day and
Linzy Heim earned two wins in the circle allowing no earned runs in her 11 inning day.
GAME 1: Concordia-St. Paul 3, Minnesota Crookston 0
The first two innings were a scoreless and hitless affair between the Golden Bears and Golden Eagles. It wasn't until the third when both teams finally got the bats going.
UMC finished with three hits in the third, and put runners in scoring position with two outs but Concordia was able to get out of the jam and keep the game scoreless.
CSP compiled two hits in inning but also stranded in runners in scoring position.
In the fourth, Crookston would load the bases with only out, but the Golden Bears pitching and defense got them out of the jam.
Justine Schattner would lead off the bottom of the fourth with a single before
Liz Jarosz belted her 10th home run of the season to give Concordia a 2-0 lead.
Haley Schanks would follow with a double and then steal third with no outs. UMC would then record two straight outs and looked like Schanks would be stranded at third. After
Elena Koncar walked,
Emily Shinn would reach base on an error allowing Schanks to score and making it a 3-0 CSP advantage.
In the fifth the Concordia pitching and defense again got out of a big jam as the Golden Eagles once again loaded the bases with only one out, but could not bring any runners home to cut into the CSP lead.
After a scoreless sixth inning,
Linzy Heim made sure CSP did not surrender their lead as she retired the Golden Eagles in order to seal the 3-0 win.
Heim (7-11) went the distance and earned the win for Concordia. She allowed six hits, no runs, and struck out six. Bailey Braatz (8-11) took the loss, pitching six innings, allowing three runs (two earned), five hits and striking out one.
Five different players recorded a hit for CSP and Jarosz recorded the teams two RBI in the win. UMC had six different players record a hit in the game one loss.
GAME 2: Concordia-St. Paul 6, Minnesota Crookston 5
After getting shut out in game one, Minnesota Crookston came out of the gates quickly in game two. The Golden Eagles scoring two runs in the first inning to jump out to a 2-0 lead. CSP would strand a runner in scoring position after one inning of play.
The Golden Bears would cut into the UMC lead in the second inning when
Sarah Kivisto scored from second on a fielding error by Crookston making it a 2-1 game.
In the third,
Liz Jarosz would launch her 11th home run of the season to lead off the bottom of the inning, tying the game at two.
Concordia would then load the bases after a walk and back-to-back singles before a sacrifice fly by
Elena Koncar would score
Haley Schanks from third giving CSP a 3-2 lead. The Golden Eagles would then get out of the jam forcing a ground out and fly out to end the inning.
The CSP lead would not last long as UMC would tie the game at three with a RBI single. The following at bat, Victoria Bayliss would reach on a fielder's choice allowing two runs to score on an error by Concordia giving UMC a 5-3 lead.
Once Crookston regained the lead,
Justine Schattner would single with one out before Jarosz smashed her second home run of the game and third of the day to tie the game at five.
Haley Schanks would follow with a single, steal second and then advance to third on an error by UMC putting her in scoring position with two outs.
Sarah Kivisto would then bring Schanks home with a RBI single give the Golden Bears a 6-5 lead.
After a scoreless fifth and sixth inning in which Heim would only allow one hit, she would complete earn her second win of the day forcing two ground outs and pop out to seal the 6-5 win and sweep of the Golden Eagles.
Heim (8-11) earned her eighth win of the season after coming in to relief in the fourth inning. She allowed only two hits, one run (zero earned), and struck out one in her four inning performance.
Jarosz and Kivisto propelled the Golden Bear offense in game two going 3-3 and 3-4 at the plate, respectively. Jarosz finished with three RBI and two runs scored while Kivisto added one RBI and one run scored. Schattner and Heim each went 2-4 at the plate in game two.
Minnesota Crookston had five different players finish with one hit and three different players added one RBI in the loss.
Concordia is back in action on Tuesday, April 18 as they travel to Sioux Falls. First pitch is scheduled for 2 pm.
