CLERMONT, Fla. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team completed their first sweep of their spring trip to improve to 10-4 on the year. The Bears used big innings in each game to defeat Urbana (2-6) 6-3 and Georgian Court (3-4) 11-3 in six innings.
 
GAME 1: Concordia-St. Paul 6, Urbana 3
Concordia opened the day with a 6-3 victory over Urbana to improve to 9-4 on the year so far. The Bears used a four-run inning to take over the lead in the fourth and did not look back after that, allowing no more runs to go on to win 6-3.
 
The Bears scored first when Haley Schanks homered in the bottom of second to help CSP take a 1-0 lead. The senior first baseman went 3-4 in the game with a team-high 2 RBIs. The Blue Knights answered Schanks' home-run with a three-run shot of their own in the top of the third to steal the lead.
 
Concordia would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Carlie Hart singled and stole her way around the bases, scoring on a catcher overthrow that went into left field. Hart finished the game going 2-4 at the plate, extending her hit streak to nine straight games, seven of which have been multi-hit games. The junior outfielder also leads the team in stolen bases, with ten.
 
In the top of the fourth, pitcher Aryka Knoche, who threw all seven innings for the Bears, struck out a pinch hitter with bases loaded to keep it a one-run game, as CSP trailed 3-2 heading into the bottom of the fourth. Concordia rallied in the fourth, though, scoring four runs on three hits, taking advantage of two wild pitches to get two of their runs across. Senior Nicole Thompson and Schanks drove in the other two runs of the inning, making it 6-3.
 
Knoche and the Bears' defense took care of the rest, not allowing Urbana to score for the rest of the game.  The sophomore pitcher went the distance allowing three runs on seven hits, while striking out five, to improve to 4-2 on the year.
 
GAME 2: Concordia-St. Paul 11, Georgian Court 3 (6 innings)
The Golden Bears completed the sweep with an 11-3 win over Georgian Court in six innings. Concordia wasted no time, scoring five runs in the top of the first to take an early lead. The Bears added three more in the third and two in the fourth and a final run in the sixth to seal the six-inning victory.

Samantha Sullivan started for the Bears on the mound and would get the win, pitching five innings, giving up three runs (two earned) on four hits, while striking out three. Sullivan is now 2-0 on the year. Kaestner came in for the last inning, allowing no runs and no hits, while striking out one in her three batters faced.
 
Seven different Golden Bears recorded hits in the win, with Justine Schattner, Schanks, Kris McIntyre, and Lizzy Swenson each tallying two apiece.  Swenson and freshman Cam Veenbaas were the team's RBI leaders in the contest, driving in two runs each. Hart continued her hit streak, making it ten straight games, with a single in the first inning.
 
The Bears capitalized on four hits and two Georgian Court errors in the first to get up 5-0. No one would score again until CSP had another big inning in the third when the Bears compiled two hits and three walks to get three more runs across to lead 8-0. The Lions got two runs back in the bottom of the third, hitting back-to-back doubles to start the inning, scoring on a ground out and a single to right field.
 
The Bears added to their lead in the fourth scoring two more runs when Makenna Giese and McIntyre each drove in a run with a pair of singles. The Lions got a run across in the bottom of the fifth to avoid the game ending in five innings, but Concordia scored again in the sixth and this time the Lions did not answer and the game ended with a final score of 11-3.
 
UP NEXT
The Bears are now over halfway through their Spring Games schedule, and will continue their ten-game trip with games against Ashland (Ohio) and Ferris State (Mich.) on Monday, March 5^th. Game times are 1 and 3:30 p.m. (Central time); check the schedule page for live stat links.