ST. PAUL, Minn. – The conference season opens up this week for the Concordia-St. Paul softball team (13-7), as they will take on Minnesota State (15-7) on Wednesday at the University of Northwestern in Roseville, Minnesota.
The games were originally set to take place in Mankato on Tuesday, but were moved to take advantage of the turf field on Northwestern's campus. Game times are scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. Live stats will be available at
https://cspbears.com/sidearmstats/softball/summary
LAST TIME OUT
In their last non-conference games of the season, the Golden Bears went 2-1 in Emporia, Kansas. Concordia first used a big second inning to defeat Central Missouri on Thursday night. The following day, CSP fell to Washburn 11-1, but then bounced back to take down Emporia State 6-5. The final two games scheduled in the tournament were cancelled due to rain and field conditions.
Senior
Justine Schattner had an impressive three games at the plate, hitting for a team-high .700 average (7-10) while drawing two walks and driving in two runs. She also played errorless at third base, recording nine assists and two putouts throughout the contests.
Hanna Mortenson and
Carlie Hart each tallied four hits on the weekend, also driving in a pair of runs. Mortenson hit her second home run of the season, getting Concordia on the board in the fourth inning against Emporia State. Hart went a perfect 4-4 in stolen bases and currently leads the NSIC in stolen bases on the season with 18.
Samantha Sullivan was solid in the circle, winning in both of her starts. She pitched 12 innings, including a complete game against Emporia State. The junior right-hander struck out 11 throughout the games, while walking only one.
MINNESOTA STATE SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears hold a 15-35 all-time series record against the Mavericks, with Minnesota State owning most of the success in the last few years as they have won the past eight straight in the series. When playing at a neutral site, as they do this week, CSP is 3-16 against MSU. Concordia last defeated Minnesota State in April of 2015 by a score of 4-2 in Mankato.
LAST MEETING WITH MSU
Last season, Concordia also opened up Northern Sun competition against Minnesota State at Northwestern when the Mavericks won both games of the doubleheader.
In the first game, MSU hit a three-run home run in the eighth inning, which ended up being enough to give them a 9-7 win. Concordia scored first in the game, getting out to a 3-0 lead after the first inning, using three hits and two Maverick errors to score their runs. The Mavericks tied it up in the third inning, as the first two batters walked and then MSU came up with three hits to score three runs.
The Bears took over the lead again in the fourth inning, taking advantage of another Minnesota State error to score two runs. The Mavericks answered those runs in the sixth, tying the game at five. The two teams traded runs in the seventh, forcing extra innings. MSU outscored CSP 3-1 in the eighth inning, allowing them to walk away with the 9-7 win. Both
Carlie Hart and
Nicole Thompson had three hits in the game, and Schattner set a new single-game record with four walks.
The offense continued in the second game of the doubleheader as both teams hit homers in the first inning, making it tied 3-3 after the first inning of play. The Golden Bears added another run in the second, but Minnesota State would add seven more runs throughout the game to take game two, 10-4.
Schattner,
Hannah Carlson, and
Lily Langevin all had two hits in the contest, with Schattner driving in a team-high two runs.
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State is 15-7 entering NSIC play, coming into Wednesday's game winning four of their last five contests. Most recently, the Mavericks competed at the Emporia State Classic, defeating Northeastern State, Pittsburg State, and Emporia State, but falling to Central Missouri.
So far this season, the Mavericks have hit for a team .306 average, with seven different players hitting .300 or above. Senior Cori Kennedy is currently the team's top-hitter, with a .414 average and 29 hits (nine of which were for extra bases). Junior Carly Esselman leads the team in RBIs with 16 on the season.
Sophomore Mackenzie Ward has been the Mavericks' main pitcher, as she has seven of the teams' wins, nine complete games, and three saves. Ward has a 2.10 ERA on the year and leads the conference in strikeouts with 87.
