ST. PAUL, Minn. – In their first home games of the year, the Concordia-St. Paul softball team (26-20, 18-11 NSIC) fell twice to the #7 Winona State Warriors (37-5, 16-2 NSIC) on Wednesday afternoon. The Warriors had a strong offensive presence, holding a 30-10 advantage in hits on the day, which lead them to two conference wins.
GAME 1: Winona State 13, Concordia-St. Paul 3
Winona State put together a 16-hit effort to pull away late in game one, defeating the Bears 13-3. The game was close for the first six innings as CSP trailed 5-3 heading into the seventh, but the Warriors added eight in the top of the inning to put the game out of reach.
Senior
Haley Schanks led the offense, going 2-2 with a walk, single, and a solo homer. Teammate
Nicole Thompson also had two hits at the plate and
Aryka Knoche had a team-high two RBIs.
WSU got on the board first in the second inning, scoring two runs when they homered and then hit back-to-back doubles to open the inning. Sophomore
Samantha Sullivan, who got the start for Concordia, worked out of it, though, retiring the next three batters in order.
The Bears would get one of those runs back in the bottom of the inning when Schanks hit her fourth home run of the year to dead center, cutting the Warrior lead in half. Winona answered with their own solo homer in the top of the third and would add another run in both the fifth and sixth innings.
In the bottom of the sixth, junior
Carlie Hart and Thompson started off the inning with singles and Schanks walked to load the bases. Knoche then came up with a clutch single to score both Hart and Thompson, which got the Bears within striking distance, trailing 5-3.
The Warriors rallied in the seventh inning, though, scoring eight runs on six hits, two of which were home runs. CSP put a runner on in the bottom of the inning, but were unable to get anything going, falling 13-3.
Sullivan pitched the first four innings for the Bears, giving up three runs on five hits, while striking out three WSU batters. Sophomore
Kali Kaestner gave three innings in relief, giving up ten runs on 11 hits, while striking out four. With the loss, Sullivan is now an even 6-6 on the year.
GAME 2: Winona State 12, Concordia-St. Paul 1 (5 innings)
The Warriors continued their offensive prowess in game two, using a 12-run third inning to propel them to a 12-1 game two win. The Bears were held to only four hits in the game, two of which came in the fifth inning.
The Bears had a chance to take an early lead with two runners on base in the first, but Hart, who started the inning with a single, was caught stealing, and Thompson, who reached on an error, was left stranded on third. The Warriors also had two on base in the top of the second, threatening to score, but sophomore leftfielder
Lily Langevin threw out a Winona player at the plate to end the inning.
In the third, the Warriors cranked out nine hits and took advantage of two walks and a hit batter to get 12 runs across. Highlighting their big inning, were three RBI singles, a double that scored two runs, and a three-run homer.
CSP scored their lone run in the bottom of the fifth, when sophomore
Hannah Carlson led off with a single up the middle and would later score when
Makenna Giese singled to left.
Knoche pitched the first 2.1 innings for the Bears, giving up nine runs on 11 hits and would take the loss. Sophomore
Kris McIntyre relieved Knoche and pitched the final 2.2 innings, allowing three runs on three hits.
Hart, who went 2-3 in the game, now has 78 hits on the season, which is one behind the single season record held by Alicia Nortrom, which was set back in 2004.
UP NEXT
The Golden Bears close out the regular season with weekend doubleheaders against U-Mary and Minot State. CSP first takes on U-Mary on Saturday, April 28
th at 1 p.m., when the Bears will also be honoring their four seniors for their contributions to the Concordia program. The following day, the Bears face Minot State at 12 p.m. If you are not able to make it in person, follow along using the live links on the softball schedule page.
