ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul softball team will have their earliest start to any season this year, as they open play on February 1-3 at the Kelly Laas Invitational at St. Cloud State. The Golden Bears, who have been practicing for a few weeks already, will take on Nebraska-Kearney, Missouri Western State, and Wisconsin-Parkside in their opening weekend.
 
Head coach Bob Bartel, who enters his 15^th season as the head of the program, is excited about the early start to games, saying "After about two to three weeks of practice, most teams are ready to see some different competition other than just themselves, so it will give us a chance to gauge where we're at and what we can work on in practice after that weekend."
 
Coach Bartel enters the 2019 season three wins shy of 400, with a 397-351 overall coaching record. He is currently the all-time wins leader in Concordia softball history and has led the Golden Bears to the NCAA Tournament four times including three trips to Sweet Sixteen. 
 
The Golden Bears have faced all of this weekend's opponents in previous seasons. Against Nebraska-Kearney, who CSP will meet twice this weekend, the Bears hold a 3-4 all-time record, last facing them in 2016, when the Lopers won both games. Concordia has played Missouri Western State with more regularity, facing them six times in the past five seasons. The Griffons were successful in all six matchups, winning by four runs or less in five of the six games. Their final opponent of the tournament is Wisconsin-Parkside, who the Bears have only faced on one other occasion. In their 2010 meeting, CSP won a 3-2 game in Kissimmee, Florida against the Rangers.
 
Concordia returns 12 players from the 2018 season, where they finished the year with a 30-24 record and an eighth place finish in the NSIC. This was the team's first 30+ win season since 2012 and their 13-15 conference record qualified them for a spot in the NSIC playoff tournament, which was their first appearance since 2014.
 
In this year's NSIC preseason poll, the Golden Bears were slated to finish 7^th, which is a step above their 2018 finish. This predicted improvement is not surprising as the team returns a large core of players with game experience, including three of their top-four hitters from last season and all four members of their pitching staff.
 
One of their main offensive threats that returns for 2019 is senior centerfielder Carlie Hart. Hart, who was a 2018 All-NSIC and D2CCA All-Region Second Team selection, had an impressive junior season, hitting for a program-best .451 average on the year. The Lake Elmo native also broke other CSP single season records, including hits (93), runs scored (56), and total bases (129).
 
Senior Justine Schattner and junior Aryka Knoche also return as significant sluggers for the Bears, as both hit over .300 last season. Schattner, who is expected to return to third base this year, hit for a .328 average, while also drawing a team-leading 24 walks to boost her on-base percentage to .407. When not pitching, Knoche could be found hitting in the designated player spot, where she led the team in RBIs in the 2018 season, driving in 42 runs, while hitting nine doubles, two triples, and seven homers.
 
As a team, the Golden Bears hit for a program-best .323 average last season. They will look to keep that consistency up and down the lineup heading into their 2019 games.
 
"We're going to keep working on staying in counts and being aggressive early," Coach Bartel added about his team's offensive approach. "If we get behind, it's important to foul off the tough pitches. Our focus is to get on base, whether it's a hit, double, triple, walk, hit-by-pitch, or error. We want to put the ball in play and make the defense make a play," he continued.  
 
Joining Knoche as part of the veteran pitching staff are juniors Kali Kaestner and Samantha Sullivan, who combined to pitch all but five innings last season. Knoche produced 14 of the team's wins in 2018, striking out a team-high 100 batters during the year. Kaestner joined Knoche in the double-digit win column, producing a team-low 3.49 ERA and holding opponents to a .260 batting average. Sullivan appeared in 27 games for CSP, recording three complete games and striking out 63 batters, while walking only 45. Sophomore Hanna Mortensen, who battled an injury last season, may also see some innings on the mound this year.
 
"There are always benefits to having a veteran staff," Coach Bartel says of his pitchers. "I think they'll be able to handle pressure situations with more maturity just because they've been through them. We look to have the same type of rotation to start the year, but having all three pitching the majority of our innings last year and having them coming back for their junior seasons is definitely a plus as far as experience goes."
 
In the infield, Coach Bartel needs to replace the shortstop and first base positions, due to the graduation of Nicole Thompson and Haley Schanks. Thompson, who was a four-year contributor, graduated with the highest career batting average (.396) of any Golden Bear player and was tied for third in most career hits (229). After her successful senior season, hitting for a .408 average in the number two spot, Thompson has joined the CSP coaching staff as a graduate assistant who helps with all areas of the team, but works especially with infielders. Schanks, who was also a four-year regular, drove in 32 runs her senior season and played solid at first base, recording a .981 fielding percentage.
  
Coach Bartel has plans for both spots, with senior Makenna Giese taking over the shortstop role and Mortenson stepping in at first base.
 
"Makenna's role has grown each year, so I think she's ready for that challenge and looking forward to that challenge," Bartel said of the senior infielder. He added that Mortenson got some experience at first base last year, and expects the Cottage Grove native to play well there for the team.
 
Schattner holding down third base and sophomore Cam Veenbaas at second rounds out the infield for the Golden Bears. Schattner was the only player to get innings at third last season, recording 96 assists and 50 putouts on the year. Veenbaas started in all but one game at second base during her freshman year, posting a .974 fielding percentage.
 
Behind the plate, Concordia has sophomore Amanda Parsons returning from last season's roster, and has added freshman Katie Carlson, a 5-4 catcher and outfielder from Buffalo, as another option. Parsons made 37 appearances at catcher last year, compiling a .984 fielding percentage for the Bears in her rookie season. Coach Bartel also mentioned that in addition to innings behind the plate, Carlson will be in the mix for some outfield innings as well.
 
In the outfield, the Golden Bears have added some extra depth for this season. Hart will return to centerfield, where she played in all 54 games last season and junior Hannah Carlson is also back for 2019, bringing over 50 games of experience in right field from her sophomore campaign. Sophomore Meagan Bliese, who was injured during her freshman season, is an option for left field and both McIntyre and Katie Carlson will have opportunities to play in either of the corner outfield spots as well, giving Coach Bartel a few different options.
 
Overall, the 2019 team brings back 11 different players with game experience. Coach Bartel commented that, "I think we have a good mix of experience and youth. It's not a heavy lineup of any class. You'll see three seniors play a lot of innings, with a good mix of juniors and sophomores also seeing a lot of action. Our two freshman will also have the opportunity to see some innings as well."
 
With this mix of young and experienced players, the team has hopes of returning to the NSIC playoff tournament again this season. Coach Bartel said that they will use the non-conference portion of their schedule to see where the team is at, tinker with a potential batting order and pitching rotation, while also trying to get as many wins as possible. "Non-conference, especially in-region games, are almost as important as the conference games, if not more important," Coach Bartel concluded. The Bears will have 16 in-region games in their non-conference portion of the schedule, while also adding an additional 10 non-conference games in Florida in early March.
 
In order to continue playing in May, Coach Bartel mentioned a few keys to this year's season. "I think we need to be more consistent. We gave away some games that we felt that we probably should have won last year. It's a goal of our team to finish higher and get a higher seed; we just need to make sure that we are competing as hard against the top teams as we do against any team," Coach Bartel said.
 
The conference season kicks off on March 26^th when the Bears will travel to Mankato to take on Minnesota State. The team's first six conference games will be played on the road before they return to Carlander Field on April 2^nd to play Upper Iowa.
 
The postseason tournament takes place from May 2^nd to 4^th and is being held in Rochester this year, at the RYFSA complex. The top-10 teams in the conference standings will qualify for the tournament, with the winner getting an automatic bid to the NCAA tournament.
 
Follow along with all of the softball action this season by checking back to the schedule page for live stat and video links. Or, download the new CSP Bears gameday fan app that provides users the opportunity to follow the softball team to get live stat, schedule, and promotional updates straight to your phone throughout the spring.