ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Golden Bear softball team (28-18, 15-11 NSIC) will close out the regular season this weekend with a pair of home doubleheaders against MSU Moorhead and Northern State. Concordia is 5-1 when playing at home this season and will look to add to their current six-game winning streak.
 
The Bears are currently sitting in sole possession of sixth place in the NSIC standings. The top 10 teams advance to the conference tournament that will take place next week, starting on Thursday. It remains a tight race with three teams only two games behind CSP and one team only one game ahead.
 
SCHEDULE CHANGES
Due to potential rainy weekend weather, the Golden Bears are moving up their game against MSU Moorhead to Friday, with first pitch set for 3 p.m. This doubleheader was originally scheduled for Saturday at 12 p.m. Concordia is then going to play Northern State on Sunday at 12 p.m. as originally scheduled.
 
SENIOR DAY
The Golden Bears will honor their three seniors in between games against Northern State on Sunday. Seniors Carlie Hart, Justine Schattner, and Makenna Giese will be recognized for their contributions to the CSP program and for their athletic accomplishments.
 
LAST TIME OUT
In their most recent games, Concordia earned their sixth sweep of the conference season, defeating Southwest Minnesota State 3-1 and 7-2. The doubleheader was a significant one for Hart, who broke the all-time hits and runs record as well as breaking the single-season steal record.
 
Hart gave CSP a 2-0 lead in the third inning of the first game, hitting an inside-the-park home run. Cam Veenbaas, who had doubled in the previous at-bat, also scored on the hit. The Bears would tack on another run in the fifth when Emma Adamek was driven in by Kris McIntyre. SMSU got one of the runs back in the bottom of the fifth inning, but was held scoreless for the final two innings of play, which included stranding three runners on base in the sixth. Junior Samantha Sullivan earned the win in the circle, giving up only one run or less for the seventh time this season.
 
The Bears also scored first in game two, as Justine Schattner drove in Hart in the first inning. The Mustangs rallied for two runs of their own in the bottom of the inning, holding a brief 2-1 lead. CSP answered in the following inning, tying it up when Veenbaas singled to score Amanda Parsons.
 
It would remain tied at two runs apiece until the sixth when Parsons singled to score Meagan Bliese, who was pinch running for Hannah Carlson. CSP added four insurance runs in the seventh, but would not need them as Kali Kaestner pitched the final six innings of the game without allowing a run. This was Kaestner's fifth win in the past six games.
 
MSU MOORHEAD SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and the Dragons will meet for the 45^th time this weekend, as Concordia owns a 36-8 all-time series record with MSUM. CSP posted a 12-game winning streak against the Dragons between 2007 and 2013 and has more recently won the past seven straight games, winning six of those games by eight runs or more. When playing at home, the Bears are 11-2 against MSU Moorhead.
 
LAST MEETING VS. MSUM
Concordia won both games of their conference doubleheader last season by scores of 11-3 and 9-0. The Bears had 27 hits in the series, holding their opponents to only 10 hits between the two games.
 
In the first game the Golden Bears got out to a quick 7-1 lead after the first two innings of play. Highlights from this early scoring was a bases-clearing triple from McIntyre, an RBI-single from Haley Schanks, and a two-run home run from Schattner.
 
From there, the Bears scored again in the fourth, sixth, and seventh innings to go on to win 11-3. Hart and McIntyre led the offense with three hits each. McIntyre also drove in four runs and Schatter was close behind her, with three RBIs of her own. Kaestner claimed the win on the mound giving up three runs on eight hits while striking out seven.
 
In game two, CSP scored first again, getting three runs across in the second inning on four hits. Hannah Carlson, Veenbaas, and Lily Langevin had RBIs in the inning. The Bears would add two more runs the following inning when Schanks hit a two-run homer. Four additional runs in the fifth gave Concordia the lead they needed to end the game in five innings, which they did stranding two Dragon runners on base in the bottom of the inning to earn the 9-0 run-rule win.
 
Aryka Knoche pitched all five innings for CSP, giving up only two hits in the outing. Offensively, Nicole Thompson, Schanks, Carlson, and Parsons all had two hits for the Bears.
 
ABOUT THE DRAGONS
MSU Moorhead is 13-30 on the year with a 7-19 record in conference play. The team enters the weekend with a five-game losing streak, last winning on April 19^th against Wayne State. Most recently, the Dragons were swept by Minnesota Duluth, 6-3 and 11-3.
 
MSUM hits for a .284 average and fields for a .941 fielding percentage. The team has five hitters batting over .300, being led by sophomore Elizabeth Johnson who hits for a .333 average and has a .405 on-base percentage. Junior Emma Dummer is also a productive bat, driving in a team-best 25 RBIs with a .313/.357/.573 slash line.
 
Sophomore Becky Berth is the team's most utilized pitcher, with almost 200 innings pitched. She has a 10-17 record with a 3.68 ERA and 18 complete games. The Dragon's pitching staff has a combined 5.23 ERA and allows opponents to hit for a .322 average.
 
NORTHERN STATE SERIES HISTORY
Concordia holds a 33-9 record when playing Northern State and is 12-4 when facing the Wolves at home. CSP opened the series winning the first 27 games before NSU defeated the Bears for the first time in 2011. Entering last season, the Wolves had won the last six games in a row, but CSP snapped this streak with a 3-0 win in the second game of last year's doubleheader.
 
LAST MEETING VS. NSU
In last year's NSIC doubleheader, the Golden Bears split with the Wolves, losing the first game in extra innings before winning the second game 3-0.
 
In game one Concordia held a slight edge in hits (9-8), but Northern State capitalized on three CSP errors to claim a nine-inning 4-3 win. After three innings, CSP and NSU were tied 2-2 before Schanks singled home Hart to give the Bears a 3-2 lead. The Wolves responded with their own RBI single in the bottom of the inning to tie it right back up.
 
The Golden Bears had two runners on in the sixth with only one out as well as a runner on in the eighth, but were unable to manufacture a run. The defense kept CSP in the game, though, also stranding three NSU runners on base between in the seventh and eighth innings. In the ninth, the Wolves managed to get a run across, reaching on an error, sacrificing the runner over, and scoring on a single to center to end the game. Hart and Schattner led the Bears offensively in the game, combining for five hits.
 
In the second game, the Bears loaded the bases in the first inning, scoring a run on a Schank's sacrifice fly. Concordia would hold onto this 1-0 lead until the seventh inning, when they added two more runs. Sullivan pitched a complete game shutout allowing only two hits in her seven innings pitched.
 
ABOUT THE WOLVES
Northern State is 18-30 on the year with a 10-16 record in conference competitions. The Wolves are 1-3 in their last four games, splitting with Wayne State, but being swept by St. Cloud State. When playing on the road, NSU is 5-8, last winning a road game on April 4^th in Crookston.
 
The Wolves are hitting for a .311 average, which ranks fourth in the NSIC. The team has hit 32 homers on the season and stolen only 17 bases, while posting a .953 fielding percentage. NSU is led by one of the top hitters in the conference in junior Kennedy Thompson, who is leading the Wolves in almost every offensive category, including batting average (.404), home runs (11), RBIs (33), slugging percentage (.681), and on-base percentage (.446).
 
Both freshman Andrea Cherney and sophomore Makenzie Merritt have pitched close to 100 innings, with each collecting a 4.51 ERA. Cherney leads the pitching staff in strikeouts with 64, but has also walked 62 batters. She has held opponents to the lowest average at .273. Senior Jamie Fisher has also added over 100 innings pitched, recording a 5.17 ERA.
 
RECORDS AND CONFERENCE LEADERS
-In Concordia's last doubleheader, senior Carlie Hart broke three CSP records. She became the all-time leader in both hits (251) and runs (162) while also setting a new single-season record in steals (44). Hart is also only five runs away from breaking her own single-season record for runs (56).
-Hart ranks seventh in the NSIC in batting average (.417), second in hits (68), eighth in total bases (97), and first in stolen bases (44). As of April 23^rd, Hart also ranked sixth nationally in stolen bases per game (0.95) and 22^nd in hits (64).
-Senior Justine Schattner ranks 11^th in the NSIC in RBIs on the year (39) and is six RBIs away from becoming the CSP all-time leader.
-Schattner also ranks 11^th in the league in batting average (.395) and ninth in hits (60).
-Junior Kris McIntyre is seventh in the NSIC in on-base percentage (.469) and fifth in stolen bases (25).
-Junior pitcher Samantha Sullivan recently reached the 100 strikeout mark for the season, which ranks seventh in the conference.