ST. PAUL, Minn. – With a walk-off single in the bottom of the ninth, the Concordia-St. Paul softball team (28-20, 13-13 NSIC) won an exciting first game, 7-6, before completing the sweep of U-Mary (17-18, 8-14 NSIC) with a 5-1 win in game two. This is the Golden Bears' fourth conference sweep of the year and the first time that they have swept the Marauders since the 2012 season.
 
With one more day of regular season games, the Bears are currently sitting in eighth place in the NSIC. The top ten teams make the conference tournament that will take place next week, from May 3-5, in Sioux Falls.
 
GAME 1: Concordia-St. Paul 7, U-Mary 6 (9 innings)
The Bears took an early lead in game one, leading 4-0 after three innings of play. U-Mary got two of those runs back in the fourth and then hit a three-run homer to take over the lead in the fifth. CSP was unable to answer in the fifth or sixth innings, but got two across in the seventh to tie it, sending the game into extra innings. Neither team was able to score in the eighth, but CSP came up with three singles in the ninth to win it.
 
Junior Carlie Hart scored the first run of the game in the first, getting hit by a pitch and then advancing around the bases, scoring on a groundout from senior Haley Schanks. Hart scored again in the third, singling and scoring on a Marauder error. Justine Schattner and Schanks also scored in the third inning, both getting across on a Lizzy Swenson double, making it 4-0 in favor of the Golden Bears.
 
 After the third, the scoring shifted to U-Mary, as they scored six runs between the fourth and fifth innings to take over the lead. A double and a sacrifice fly scored two runs in the fourth and an RBI single and a three-run home run gave them the 6-4 edge.
 
The Bears rallied in the seventh, though, as Hannah Carlson walked and Aryka Knoche singled, and would both come around to score to tie it up. Junior Makenna Giese came up with a clutch double to score Carlson and Knoche scored on a wild pitch on the next play.
 
CSP had a baserunner in the eighth, but were held scoreless until the ninth. Giese started the ninth with a single down the left field line and Hart singled up the middle, which got the winning run over to second base. It was senior Nicole Thompson who would come up with the winning hit, driving one up the middle to score Giese for the walk-off victory.
 
Hart led the offense, reaching base five times throughout the contest. The Lake Elmo native recorded three hits on her way to breaking the Concordia single season hit record set by Alicia Nortrom back in 2004, as Hart now has 82 hits on the year.
 
Giese and Thompson were the other two Golden Bears to record multiple hits in the game, and Swenson led in RBIs, with two.
 
Sophomore Kali Kaestner earned the win on the mound for the Bears, pitching the final 4.2 innings, allowing no runs on two hits while striking out three. Kaestner is now 9-5 on the year.
 
GAME 2: Concordia-St. Paul 5, U-Mary 1
The Bears took care of business in game two, allowing the Marauders to score only one run, while adding five runs of their own in the third inning to secure the sweep. Each team tallied six hits in the game, but Concordia was able to take advantage of an error and five walks.
 
U-Mary wasted no time getting on the board, as their two and three hitters each singled, allowing the clean-up to drive in a run on a sacrifice fly to center field.
 
The Bears answered in the third, scoring all five of their runs with two outs. Hart started the rally with a double, advancing to third on a wild pitch, and scoring on a Marauder error. Schattner then walked and Schanks and Knoche hit back-to-back singles, which scored both Thompson and Schattner. Three straight walks allowed two more runs to cross and CSP left the inning holding a 5-1 lead.
 
Knoche and the defense were solid for the rest of the game, retiring the Marauders 1-2-3 for three of the last four innings, allowing two hits and a walk in the sixth, but getting out of a bases-loaded jam without any damage done.
 
In addition to pitching all seven innings for the Bears, Knoche led the offense, going 2-3 at the plate with an RBI. Hart, Thompson, Schanks, and Lily Langevin were the other CSP players to record a hit in the contest.
 
With the win, Knoche improves to 13-9 on the season. The sophomore right-hander also continues to lead the Golden Bears in strikeouts with 95 so far this year.
 
UP NEXT
The Golden Bears will close out the regular season tomorrow, taking on the Minot State Beavers at Carlander Field. First pitch is set for 12:00 p.m. If you are unable to make it in person, follow along with live stats at cspbears.com/livesoft.