ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Golden Bear softball team (12-8, 6-0 NSIC) looks to keep their hot streak going heading into a tough weekend schedule. CSP has won six games in a row and they will need to keep the magic alive as they will face the 2019 NCAA National Champions, the Augustana Vikings (S.D) (17-3, 5-1 NSIC) on Saturday afternoon in Sioux Falls for a doubleheader. CSP will then travel to Wayne Nebraska for a doubleheader with Wayne State (3-17, 0-8 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon. The first game of both doubleheaders is scheduled for a 12 p.m. start time. 
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears took on the Upper Iowa Peacocks in a doubleheader on Tuesday afternoon. CSP Went up against one of the best strikeout pitchers in the NSIC in Abby McKay who is second in the NSIC with 85 strikeouts. Concordia fell behind early in game one but rallied late for an exciting game one finish. Game two was less dramatic as the Golden Bear bats were hot and helped lift them to their sixth straight victory. 
 
Tuesday, April 6^th
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 5, Upper Iowa 4
After Abby McKay set down the Golden Bears in order in the top of the first inning, the Peacocks put the first two batters on with a hit and a walk, Bryanna Olson was able to get a strike out, but Payton Kastenschmidt stepped up and hit a three-run home run to give the Peacocks an early 3-0 lead over CSP. After a quick second and third inning for both pitchers, Concordia was finally able to get onto the board in the top of the fourth inning. Clara Heislen led off with a double off of the center field wall. McKay was able to strikeout McIntyre and get Beseman to pop out to third base. It looked like she was about to strand Heislen at second when Aryka Knoche reached on a throwing error by the shortstop, which allowed Heislen to score and make it a 3-1 ball game. The Golden Bears were able to plate another run in the top of the fifth inning. Jacey Defries knocked a one out double to right center field, Taylor Griffin would single to left field, scoring Defries and making it a 3-2 game, chipping away at the Peacocks lead. CSP would take the lead in the sixth inning, Clara Heislen led off with a single down the left field line. After a fly out, Grace Beseman singled down the left field line, advancing Heislen to second base. Aryka Knoche had a chance to tie the game but she decided to do a little bit more with a huge three-run home run to left field to give Concordia a 5-3 lead. The Peacocks looked to get back into it in the bottom of the seventh inning and it was looking good for them when their leadoff batter got on after an error on the Golden Bears. Kali Kaestner relieved Olson and was looking to shut the door. She got back-to-back strikeouts to start her outing before Katie Crogan smoked an RBI double off the top of the right-center field wall to make it a 5-4 game. Kaestner was able to set down the next batter on a strikeout and lock down the 5-4 CSP win. 

GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 8, Upper Iowa 1
It was the Golden Bears who struck first in game two. In the top of the second inning Amanda Parsons led off with a walk, Jacey Defries singled through the left side, advancing Parsons to second base. Taylor Griffin laid down a perfectly placed sacrifice bunt, advancing both the runners up a base. Then a passed ball allowed Parsons to score giving CSP an early 1-0 lead. Concordia would add a few more runs a couple innings later. In the top of the third inning Kris McIntyre laid down a one out bunt single, then Grace Beseman snuck a ball over the right center field wall for a two-run home run, her sixth of the season, giving CSP a 3-0 lead over Upper Iowa. The Golden Bears were not done as a batter later Amanda Parsons hit a mammoth home run to right field, her third of the season, making it 4-0 Golden Bears early in game two. An inning later the Golden Bears would add three more runs. Hanna Mortenson ripped a one out single, that was followed by a single through the right side by Ani Bell. Clara Heislen doubled to left center, scoring both Bell and Mortenson to make it 6-0. Kris McIntyre singled, sending Heislen to third and then Grace Besemansingled to right field, scoring Heislen and increasing Concordia's lead to 7-0. Concordia would tack on one more run in the top of the sixth inning. Kris McIntyre hit a one out double and Grace Beseman drove her in with a single to center field to make it 8-0. CSP tried to close it out in the bottom of the sixth inning but the Peacocks would extend the game a bit longer. Amanda Williams singled and then Katie Corgan reached on an error, Payton Kastenschmid reached on a fielder's choice as Corgan was out at second and Williams advanced to third. After a walk to load up the bases, Sadie Carpenter reached on another error by the Golden Bears, scoring Williams and getting the Peacocks on the board to make it 8-1. Aryka Knoche was able to get out of that jam as she finished off the game in the seventh inning to give the Golden Bears the 8-1 victory.

AUGUSTANA SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and the Vikings will be meeting for the 37 time; the Vikings currently hold an astounding 30-6 record over CSP. The Vikings defeated the Golden Bears 7-1 in their first ever matchup back in 2003. It was a back-and-forth rivalry for the next few years as Concordia went 5-5 against the Vikings in that stretch. After that it was all Augustana as they went on to win 21 straight games over the Golden Bears. The streak was finally snapped on May 5^th, 2018 when CSP took the Vikings down 5-3 in a nine-inning thriller. The Vikings have currently won three straight games in 2019 over the Golden Bears since that victory in 2018. 
 
LAST MEETING WITH AUGUSTANA
In their first game of the day the Golden Bears saw their 11-game winning streak come to a close with a 1-0 loss against #16 Augustana. This was only the third time this season that Concordia has been held scoreless.
 
Kaestner had an impressive pitching outing for CSP, giving up no earned runs in her six innings pitched. Kaestner allowed five hits in the contest while also striking out five, holding the Vikings (who lead the conference in batting average) to a .217 average throughout the game. She has now had six consecutive starts allowing two runs or less.
 
Each of the top four batters for CSP had a hit in the game, with Hart extending her hitting streak to 16 straight games. Kris McIntyre, Schattner, and Hannah Carlson also had hits for the Bears.
 
It was Augustana who would score first in the game, capitalizing on a CSP error in the first inning to get a runner on. That runner then stole second and was driven in by a single to left.
 
ABOUT THE VIKINGS
Augustana is 17-3 on the season, with a 5-1 record in the NSIC. The Vikings have swept Wayne State, split with St. Cloud State, and swept Minnesota Duluth last weekend.  
 
As a team, the Vikings are hitting for a .321 average which is sixth best in the NSIC. They have hit 23 home runs on the season which is third in the NSIC behind CSP who has hit 26. They have stolen 46 bases for third best in the NSIC and they are fielding for a .968 average which is fifth best in the NSIC. 
 
Senior Kendall Cornick is leading the team with a .500 batting average, which is second best in the NSIC. She leads the team with a .553 on-base percentage for fourth best in the NSIC and she leads the NSIC with a slugging percentage of .809. Mary Pardo leads the Vikings with six home runs and Torri Chute leads the team with 24 RBI's.
 
Senior Amber Elliott leads the Vikings pitching staff with a 9-1 record, she has a 2.55 ERA in 60.1 innings of work. She is holding opponents to a .241 batting average and has pitched seven complete games. Ashley Mickschl is also one of the Vikings top pitchers, she is 8-2 with a 2.79 ERA, she has nine complete games, 45 strikeouts in 65.1 innings of work and is holding opponents to a .221 batting average. 

WAYNE STATE SERIES HISTORY
Concordia holds a narrow 25-23 all-time record against Wayne State. Including a current six game winning streak against the Wildcats and a 6-4 record in their last 10 matchups. CSP is 13-13 in games played at Wayne State. 
 
LAST MEETING WITH MINOT STATE
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.
 
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.

ABOUT THE WILDCATS
Wayne State is currently 3-17 on the season, with a 0-8 record in NSIC play. The Wildcats have fallen to Augustana, Minnesota Duluth, St. Cloud State, and Sioux Falls. They will host the Mavericks Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader before welcoming the Golden Bears on Sunday.  
 
As a team, the Wildcats are hitting for a .277 average and have hit seven home runs on the season. They have stolen 14 bases and they are fielding for a .935 average. Wayne State has five players who are hitting over .300. They are led by Riley Holmberg, who is hitting .365 with an on-base percentage of .377. Ashley Hernandez is hitting .313 and leads the team with five home runs, 18 RBI's and a .609 slugging percentage. 
 
Sloan Cooksey leads the team with a 4.56 ERA in 51.1 innings of work. She has struck out 41 batters and is holding them to a .284 batting average while pitching four complete games. Hadley Chvatal is 3-4 with a 4.82 ERA, striking out 23 batters in 37.1 innings of work for the Wildcats. 
 
GOLDEN BEAR TEAM LEADERS 
Grace Beseman continues to mash the ball as she leads the team with a .413 batting average with 26 hits, six home runs and 22 RBI's. She also leads the squad with a .762 slugging percentage and a .439 on-base percentage with four doubles and seven stolen bases. Clara Heislen is hitting .359 with three doubles, four home runs and 12 RBI's for a .594 slugging percentage and a .417 on-base percentage and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage. 
 
Kris McIntyre has seen her average climb to .333 with 16 runs scored, .426 slugging and .377 on-base percentage and four stolen bases. Aryka Knoche is hitting .286 with three home runs and 10 RBI's for a .446 slugging percentage. Amanda Parsons is hitting .286, three doubles, one triple, three home runs and 11 RBI's for a .536 slugging and a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage behind the plate. 
 
Bryanna Olson continues to lead the pitching staff with a 2.22 ERA and 50 strikeouts in 47.1 innings of work. She also leads the team with an opponent batting average of .227 with a 5-4 record on the season. Kali Kaestner leads the team with a 5-2 record and five complete games. She has a 2.55 ERA and 41 strikeouts in 46.2 innings of work. 
 
Both live stream and live stats will be available for the double headers this weekend. You can find the links to each on the Golden Bear softball schedule page.