WAYNE, Neb. – After a game one win, the Concordia-St. Paul softball team (20-10, 7-3 NSIC) used a walk-off single from Hannah Carlson to defeat Wayne State (9-17, 0-10 NSIC) in game two. This is the third straight year that the Golden Bears have swept the Wildcats, improving to 25-21 in the all-time series.
 
Concordia outhit Wayne State 24-11 on the day, winning the first game in five innings by a score of 15-3. Game two was tighter, as WSC tied it up at 4-4 in the seventh inning, setting up Carlson's walk-off single in the bottom of the inning to win it 5-4.
 
There were many solid offensive performances in the doubleheader for the Golden Bears. Senior Makenna Giese went a perfect 4-4 at the plate between the two games, with a run and four RBIs. In game one, Hanna Mortenson went 3-3 with four runs and four RBIs and in game two, Justine Schattner led the way going 3-4 with a run and an RBI.
 
The Golden Bears continue their road trip, taking on Augustana tomorrow, April 7^th in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
 
GAME 1: CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL 15, WAYNE STATE 3 (5 innings)
The Golden Bears earned a game one win in impressive fashion, recording their fourth run-rule victory of the year with a 15-3 win in five innings. Concordia tallied a new season-high in hits in the game with 16, scoring the most runs of any game this season. This was also the team's 14^th time this season getting past the 10 hit mark.
 
Five different CSP players had multiple hits in the game, being led by sophomore Hanna Mortenson who went 3-3 at the plate with two doubles and a home run, ending with four RBIs, which is a career high for the Cottage Grove native.
 
Senior Carlie Hart matched Mortenson in hits, going 3-4 with a pair of RBIs and Aryka Knoche, Makenna Giese, and Katie Carlson all had two hits each. Both Giese and Carlson drove in three runs in the game, which were career highs for each.
 
Knoche pitched all five innings for the Golden Bears, giving up five hits while striking out five and walking one. Four of those Wayne State hits took place in the first inning, with Knoche giving up only one hit through the final four innings. With the win, Knoche is now 8-3 on the year.
 
The Wildcats opened the game strong, scoring two runs in the first inning on four hits. The Golden Bears answered in the bottom of the inning, batting through their lineup to score five runs, four of which were scored with two outs.
 
Kris McIntyre walked and both Schattner and Knoche singled to load the bases. Mortenson and Hannah Carlson then drove in a run each, walking with the bases loaded. Giese got two more runs across with a single up the middle and Hart drove in the final run of the inning with an infield single.
 
The Bears had another big inning in the second, scoring seven runs on six hits. Schattner opened the inning reaching on a WSC error and Knoche followed that up with a single up the middle. Mortenson then doubled to score Schattner. Later in the inning Hannah Carlson walked with the bases loaded to get a run across. A Giese single and a double from Katie Carlson scored three more, and Hart capped off the scoring driving in a run and later scoring on a wild pitch. This gave CSP a 12-2 lead after two innings of play.
 
The teams traded runs in the third, as Wayne State's Abbie Hix homered to center and Katie Carlson singled up the middle to score Mortenson, who had doubled earlier in the inning. The Bears scored their final runs of the game in the fourth inning when Mortenson hit her fourth home run of the year, this time hitting a two-run bomb to right center.  
 
GAME 2: CONCORDIA-ST. PAUL 5, WAYNE STATE 4
Concordia needed all seven innings to win game two, scoring once in the seventh to pull out a 5-4 win. This was the seventh one-run game that the Golden Bears have won so far this season.
 
As a team, the Bears outhit the Wildcats 8-6 throughout the game. Schattner paced the offense with three hits while also driving in a run and scoring once. Two of her hits were for extra bases, hitting triple in the fifth and a double in the seventh.
 
McIntyre, with a walk in the first inning, extended her reached base streak to 23 games.
 
Kali Kaestner started in the circle for CSP, pitching the first 5.1 innings. Kaestner gave up one run on three hits while striking out two and walking five. Samantha Sullivan came in for the final 1.2 innings, giving up three runs (only two earned) on three hits, striking out three and walking none. Sullivan earned the win and improves to 9-5 on the season.
 
Wayne State once again scored first in the contest, getting a run across when Emily Chandler doubled to score a runner on first. Chandler had two hits in the game, driving in all four of WSC's runs.
 
CSP was held scoreless in the first two innings, but tied the game up in the third inning when Schattner singled to score McIntyre from second. In the following inning, it was freshman Katie Carlson who broke the tie, hitting her second home run of the year to put the Bears up 3-1 after four innings.
 
The Bears added another run in the fifth inning when Giese drove in Amanda Parsons on a single up the middle. Parsons had singled earlier in the inning and was sacrificed over to second by Hannah Carlson.
 
The Wildcats tied it up in the seventh, as their first two batters reached and were driven in by an Emily Chandler home run to right center.
 
The game looked like it was headed into extra innings, as the first two CSP batters of the seventh were retired. Schattner, however, came up with a two-out double and the following two batters walked to load the bases. Hannah Carlson then hit a hard single up the middle to score Schattner and win it for the Bears, giving them the 5-4 decision.