EMPORIA, Kan. – The Golden Bears softball team (2-0) started the 2018 season on a high note, defeating Southwest Baptist 5-3 and Arkansas Tech 3-2 (9 innings) to earn the opening day sweep. This is the first time that CSP has opened the season with two wins since 2009 and only the fourth time overall in Concordia's Division II history.
 
GAME 1: Concordia-St. Paul 5, Southwest Baptist 3
The Golden Bears kicked off the 2018 season with a 5-3 win over Southwest Baptist in their first game of the 6-State Classic hosted by Emporia. Sophomore transfer Aryka Knoche got the opening-day start for the Bears, pitching all seven innings. Knoche allowed only four hits throughout the contest, giving up two earned runs, and striking out six while walking only one.
 
CSP got on the board first, after holding the Bearcats scoreless in the top of the first, despite an early inning error. Junior Carlie Hart recorded the team's first hit of the year, reaching on an infield single. Senior Nicole Thompson followed that with a single to left. Hart then advanced to third on a fielder's choice from Justine Schattner and a fly ball from Haley Schanks got Hart across to help the Bears take a 1-0 lead.
 
The Bearcats answered in the top of the second when Kaley Hansen doubled with two outs and Morgan McMullin homered to give Southwest Baptist a 2-1 lead. Both teams went down 1-2-3 in the bottom of the third and top of the fourth, but the Bears then scored twice in the bottom of the fourth inning. Knoche opened up the scoring with a homerun before Hannah Carlson scored on a bases-loaded walk.
 
In the fifth, Knoche drove in another run when she singled to right field, scoring Schattner, who doubled to open the inning. The Bears would tack on another run when Lily Langevin reached on a bunt single, took second on a wild pitch, and scored on a Thompson single. This run would give CSP a 5-2 lead heading into the top of the seventh.
 
Southwest Baptist threatened a seventh-inning comeback, as they led off with a single which was followed up by a walk. The Bears got an out on a fielder's choice, but the Bearcats scored on a passed ball. Concordia's defense settled down after that, recording the last two outs to secure the win.
 
In addition to getting the win, Knoche had a solid game at the plate, going two for three, with two RBIs. Freshman Cam Veenbaas, Langevin, and Thompson all tallied two hits in the contest as well.
 
GAME 2: Concordia-St. Paul 4, Arkansas Tech 3 (9 innings)
CSP finished their first day of play with an exciting come-from-behind victory over Arkansas Tech, scoring in the sixth and eighth innings to tie it up and scoring again in the bottom of the ninth to get the win. Sophomore Samantha Sullivan got the start in the game, giving up two runs in four innings of work. Sophomore Kali Kaestner took over in the fifth inning, pitching the next five innings, only allowing one run to secure her first win as a Golden Bear. The pitchers combined to strike out ten batters throughout the contest, with Sullivan striking out seven.
 
Each team had seven hits in the game, but the Bears capitalized on four Arkansas Tech errors to help get the win. Thompson and Hart each registered two hits and a RBI in the contest. Hart came up with the clutch ninth inning single to win it for the Bears and this was Thompson's second straight multi-hit game.
 
The first two innings were scoreless, although the Bears allowed three runners on base. In the top of the third, the Golden Suns opened with two hits and got a run across on a wild pitch. The Bears got out of the inning and went on to tie it up when Thompson singled, scoring Langevin who had gotten on with a bunt down the third base line earlier in the inning. Arkansas Tech scored the next inning, and the Suns would lead 2-1 until the bottom of the sixth inning.
 
Thompson led off the sixth inning with a single, followed by a Schattner walk. Thompson would get out at third on a fielder's choice, but Schattner would get around to score on a shortstop fielding error the following play. Neither team would score in the seventh, despite the Golden Bears having bases loaded, and the game headed into extra innings.
 
Both teams scored in the eighth, but the Bears held the Suns scoreless in the top of the ninth. Langevin was placed on second to start the bottom of the ninth due to international tie-breaker rule and it only took one at-bat to score her, as Hart singled to center, scoring Langevin to win it.
 
The Golden Bears will play again tomorrow, February 18^th, in the 6-State Classic when they face #14 Missouri-St. Louis and #10 Southern Arkansas. Game times are set for 9 and 11 a.m. Live stats for the games can be found at http://www.sidearmstats.com/emporia/softball/.