ROSEVEILLE, Minn. – On a chilly day at Northwestern's field, the Concordia-St. Paul softball team (15-9, 0-2 NSIC) racked up 21 hits, but dropped both games to #14 Minnesota State (21-5, 2-0 NSIC). The first game was especially close, as the two teams traded runs, until the Mavericks scored three in the top of the eighth which the Bears were unable to answer, going on to win 9-7. In the second game, the Bears and the Mavericks were tied at four apiece after the second inning, but the CSP offense cooled off, as Minnesota State was able to pile on six more runs for a 10-4 win.
 
GAME 1: Minnesota State 9, Concordia-St. Paul 7 (8 innings)
In game one of the doubleheader, the Bears started strong, scoring in the bottom of the first to take a quick 3-0 lead. The Mavericks answered in the top of the third, scoring three runs of their own to tie it up. CSP took the lead back in the fourth, but Minnesota State tied it up again in the sixth, and each team scored a run in the seventh to send it to extra innings. In the eighth, the Mavericks homered putting them up by three. The Bears were close to tying it up, scoring one and leaving two on base, but were unable to get those last two across, allowing the Mavericks to take game one, 9-7.
 
The top of the order carried much of the hitting load in the first game, as the first three batters, Carlie Hart, Nicole Thompson, and Justine Schattner, combined for seven of the team's 11 hits. All three of them singled and would come around to score in the first inning.
 
Hart and Thompson each tallied three hits in the game, and Schattner went 1-1 with four walks. Schattner, Haley Schanks, Aryka Knoche, and Lizzy Swenson all ended with RBIs in the contest. Swenson's RBI was especially timely, as she came up with a two-out single in the bottom of the seventh to score Kris McIntyre from second, to send the game to extra innings.
 
Knoche got the start on the mound, going the first 5.2 innings, giving up five runs on eight hits and four walks. Kali Kaestner came in to relieve Knoche, going the last 2.1 innings, giving up four runs on four hits, a walk, and a strikeout. Kaestner would take the loss, falling to 6-4 on the season.
 
GAME 2: Minnesota State 10, Concordia-St. Paul 4
The Concordia offense was also active in the second game, as the Bears recorded ten hits throughout the game. The Mavericks got on the board first, hitting a three-run homerun in the first, to take a 3-0 lead. CSP tied it up in the bottom of inning, as Schattner hit her third homerun of the year, to drive in two runs. Schanks followed that up with a double, eventually coming around to score on a Maverick error.
 
Both teams were able to score one run in the second, but the Bears were held scoreless after that. Minnesota State was able to capitalize on their hits, including hitting four homeruns, to score six more runs to go on to win 10-4.
 
Schattner, Hannah Carlson, and Lily Langevin each registered two hits to lead the offense, and Schattner tallied both of Concordia's RBIs. With a double in the second inning, Hart extends her hit-streak to 20 straight games, with half of those being multi-hit games.
 
Sophomore Samantha Sullivan went the first 2.0 innings on the mound, giving up six runs on seven hits. Left-hander McIntyre pitched 2.1 innings in relief, allowing three runs on three hits and Kaestner finished the last 2.2 innings, giving up one run on one hit. Sullivan took the loss, falling to 3-1 on the year.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears continue their NSIC schedule with games tomorrow, March 29^th, and the following day, March 30^th. The team will first travel to Augustana to take on the Vikings, before heading to Wayne State to finish the week against the Wildcats. Follow along with all the action with the live stat links at the top of the page.