ST. PAUL, Minn. – After playing the last four games on the road, the Concordia-St. Paul softball team (26-18, 11-11 NSIC) is returning home to finish off the regular season with six games at Carlander Field. The homestand begins with a midweek doubleheader against #8 Winona State and will conclude with weekend doubleheaders against U-Mary and Minot State. The Bears have yet to get out on their home field, after having played most of their scheduled home games at the West St. Paul Dome.
SENIOR DAY
The Golden Bears will be honoring seniors Lauren Bartel, Haley Schanks, Lizzy Swenson, and Nicole Thompson on Saturday, April 28th between games of the U-Mary doubleheader, celebrating their accomplishments and all that they have added to the CSP program throughout their career.
CSP HOME PLATE TAILGATE - APRIL 28TH
The Concordia University Alumni Association and Department of Athletics have teamed up for the Home Plate Tailgate event for alumni and their families on Saturday, April 28 from 1 p.m. to 4 p.m. between Barnes and Carlander Fields behind Gangelhoff Center. The event is in conjunction with the softball team hosting U-Mary at 1 p.m. at Carlander Field and the baseball team hosting Winona State at 1:30 p.m. at Barnes Field. Please RSVP for the event at ave.csp.edu/homeplate2018.
ONLINE COVERAGE
Wednesday and Saturday's games will be streamed live on Concordia's GameCentral portal courtesy Stretch Internet. The high definition, one camera production through the athletic department will feature play-by-play by Dan Flanagan, Voice of the Golden Bears since 2008. The St. Paul native is a graduate of Fordham University in New York where he specialized in radio broadcasting.
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears went 4-2 in last week's contests, splitting with both Sioux Falls and Northern State before sweeping MSU Moorhead to close out the week. The team had a strong offensive week, hitting .330 at the plate and outhitting their opponents 58-29. Concordia also compiled 12 extra base hits throughout the week. The pitching staff had a solid performance as well, recording a 1.35 ERA while holding opponents to a .190 batting average.
In their most recent doubleheader, the Bears defeated MSU Moorhead twice, by scores of 11-3 and 9-0. In game one, CSP used a five-run first inning to get their offense going. Haley Schanks started the scoring with an RBI single to left field and Kris McIntyre followed that up with a bases-clearing triple, which drove in three runs. Lizzy Swenson ended the first inning scoring with a sac bunt which scored McIntyre.
Justine Schattner added to the Bears' lead, hitting a two-run homer in the second and the team added a run in both the fourth and sixth innings, as well as tacking on two more in the seventh to secure the win. Sophomore Kali Kaestner threw a complete game to earn her eighth win of the season, as she matched her season-high in strikeouts with seven.
The offense was just as dominant in game two, as the Bears held a 12-2 edge in hits to score nine runs, ending the game in five innings. Hannah Carlson got Concordia on the board first with an RBI double, and Cam Veenbaas and Lily Langevin both drove in a run to help CSP take an early 3-0 lead. In the third, the Bears would add two more runs when Schanks hit a two-run homer putting CSP up 5-0.
A four-run fifth inning helped put the game out of reach. It started when Nicole Thompson and Schattner both singled and then stole their way around the bases, as Thompson stole third and scored on a MSUM error and Schattner stole second, advanced to third on the error, and took home on a wild pitch. Carlson would also score on a wild pitch and Veenbaas drove in the last run with a single up the middle.
Aryka Knoche and the Concordia defense took care of the rest. Knoche allowed only two hits all game to secure the complete game shutout and her 12th win of the year.
SERIES HISTORY VS WINONA STATE
The Bears hold a 13-28 all-time series record against the Warriors, and when playing at home, as they do this week, CSP is 6-9. Winona State has won the last eight in a row and the last time that the Bears have defeated the Warriors was in April of 2012 in Rochester, Minnesota. The last time that Concordia has defeated Winona State at home was in 2009, when the Warriors were ranked ninth in the country.
LAST MEETING WITH WSU
In last year's doubleheader, the Warriors took home both wins, winning the first 6-0 and the second 7-0. In the first game, WSU scored all of their runs in the sixth inning to secure the win, holding the Bears scoreless for all seven innings. Winona's McKenna Larson only allowed three hits in the game, while striking out nine CSP batters. Hart, Langevin, and Linzy Heim each had a hit and Heim took the loss on the mound, despite giving up only one earned run.
Concordia continued to struggle on offense in the second game, as they were held to only four hits while striking out seven times. The Bears did have people in scoring position in the first, third, and fifth innings, but were unable to get anyone across. The Warriors scored in four different innings and took advantage of six walks and a CSP error to score all seven of their runs. Samantha Sullivan was credited with the loss, giving up seven runs (six earned) on nine hits and six walks.
SERIES HISTORY VS U-MARY
The series between Concordia and U-Mary has been a close one, as the Marauders hold a slight edge in wins, with a 15-14 record. U-Mary has been more successful lately, winning nine of the last ten. Of those last ten games, seven of them have been especially close, being decided by four runs or less. The Bears play better at home against the Marauders, posting a 5-4 record when playing at Carlander Field.
LAST MEETING WITH U-MARY
Last season, CSP split two close games against U-Mary, falling 2-1 in the first game and winning 3-1 in the second. In game one, the Bears had many opportunities to score as they tallied eight hits and three walks, but they left eight runners on base. Liz Jarosz scored Concordia's run, hitting a solo home run in the sixth inning. Schanks, Elena Koncar, and Emily Shinn were also active at the plate, each recording two hits. The Marauders, however, took advantage of doubles hit in the fifth and seventh innings that each drove in one run, which earned them the 2-1 victory.
In game two, the Bears outhit U-Mary 10-4 on their way to a 3-1 win. Heim got the Bears on the board first in the sixth inning, driving in Jarosz on a single to left field. Sarah Kivisto tacked on another run, hitting a sacrifice fly to score Schanks. The Marauders would get one back in the bottom of the inning on an RBI single, but the Bears added an insurance run in the top of the seventh and the defense retired the Marauders in order in the seventh to earn the win.
SERIES HISTORY VS MINOT STATE
The Bears began playing Minot State in 2014 and have since compiled a 2-8 all-time series record against the Beavers. Seven of the games in the series have been close, being decided by four runs or less, and CSP is 1-3 when playing Minot at home. The series opened with two doubleheader splits, but since then the Beavers have swept the Bears in the last three matchups.
LAST MEETING WITH MINOT
In their most recent meeting, the Bears dropped both in Minot, falling 2-0 and then 8-0. In game one, the Beavers scored a run in the first and sixth innings and held CSP scoreless to earn the victory. Concordia had good chances to score in three different innings, having runners in scoring position, but the Minot defense held strong. The five hits that CSP had in the game were spread out between five different players, as Jarosz, Schanks, Kivisto, Koncar, and Shinn each had a hit apiece.
Minot's offense got going in game two, as they used eight hits and five walks to score eight runs to defeat the Bears in five innings. Langevin, Jarosz, and Heim were the only Golden Bears to record hits in the contest, but all reached base in different innings.
CONFERENCE LEADERS
Throughout the season, the Golden Bears have had players rank near the top of the league in several different statistical categories, as well as being ranked nationally.
Carlie Hart leads the NSIC in hits with 75, which ranks second in the country. The Lake Elmo native also ranks fifth in the NSIC in batting average (.452), ninth in on-base percentage (.461), second in runs scored (46), fourth in triples (4), second in total bases (105), and second in stolen bases (25).
Nicole Thompson, who recently became the seventh Golden Bear to surpass the 200-hit mark, ranks third in the NSIC in hits (65), tenth in batting average (.419), 15th in on-base percentage (.461), and third in stolen bases (23). She is also rated as the 15th toughest to strike out in the country, as she has only struck out three times in 155 at-bats.
Aryka Knoche is tied for seventh in the NSIC in number of wins (12) and ranks fourth in batters struck out (90).
Kali Kaestner ranks tenth in the conference in ERA (2.96) and ninth in opposing batting average (.249).
