MOORHEAD, Minn. – the Concordia-St. Paul softball team (21-17, 15-9 NSIC) took on the MSU Moorhead Dragons (8-31, 6-19) on Sunday afternoon in Moorhead, Minnesota. CSP took game one in six innings with an explosive display their offense. The Dragons had a big fifth inning as they won game two in a nail biter.  
 
The Golden Bears will be back home next weekend to finish out the 2021 regular season. CSP will host Sioux Falls (S.D.) on Saturday afternoon for a doubleheader, first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. Concordia will then round out the regular season with a doubleheader with Southwest Minnesota State on Sunday, first pitch is scheduled for 12 p.m. Both games will be played at Carlander Field. 
 
The Golden Bears produced 20 hits and 13 runs in their doubleheader against the Dragons. 
 
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 9, MSU Moorhead 0
Concordia jumped on the board early in the top of the first inning, Clara Heislen led off with a double to left field. After a groundout Grace Beseman reached on a throwing error by the Dragons shortstop, she advanced to second and Heislen scored to make it 1-0 CSP. Aryka Knoche followed that with a single up the middle, advancing Beseman to third. Amanda Parsons singled, scoring Beseman to make it 2-0. Hanna Mortenson followed with a big two-run triple to right center to make it 4-0 Golden Bears. Cam Veenbaas got in on the action with a sacrifice fly to right field, scoring Mortenson to give Concordia a 5-0 lead in the first inning over the Dragons. 
 
CSP would add two more runs in the top of the third inning on three hits and one Dragon error. Grace Beseman led off with a single through the left side, Aryka Knoche followed that up with a single and Amanda Parsons joined in with a single of her own to fill the bases. Hanna Mortenson hit a sacrifice fly to center field, scoring Beseman to give Concordia a 6-0 lead. Cam Veenbaas was hit by a pitch to refill the bases. Taylor Griffin reached on a fielder's choice, Knoche was thrown out at home, Veenbaas advanced to second and Parsons scored on a throwing error by the MSUM catcher to make it 7-0 Golden Bears. 
 
The Golden Bears would again add two more runs in the top of the sixth inning. Clara Heislen led off the inning with a walk, she then stole second base. After a pop out and a groundout, Annalise Scamehorn, who pinch hit for Knoche back in the fifth inning, was hit by a pitch to make it first a second. Kristi Pilz pinch ran from Scamehorn, Pilz and Heislen would advanced to second and third on a wild pitch. Jacey Defries, who pinch hit for Amanda Parsons back in the fifth inning, walked to load the bases for Emma Lero. Lero walked to score Heislen and make it 8-0 CSP. Afton Zemke pinch hit for Veenbaas and she also walked to score Pilz and give Concordia a 9-0 lead over the Dragons.  
 
Kali Kaestner went all six innings, allowing only four hits and struck out six batters in her shutout victory. She moves to 10-7 on the season.
 
Aryka Knoche and Amanda Parsons led the Golden Bears offense. They each went 2-2, Knoche scored one run and Parsons scored two with one RBI. Clara Heislen went 1-3 with two runs scored, Grace Beseman went 1-3 with two runs scored, Hanna Mortenson went 1-1 with a run scored and three RBI's. Cam Veenbaas went 1-1 with an RBI, Taylor Griffin went 1-4 and Meagan Bliese went 1-2.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 4, MSU Moorhead 5
It was the Dragons who struck first in game two. Shay Weber reached on a one out walk, Emma Dummer doubled to left center, moving Weber to third base. Then Amanda Parsons picked Dummer off of second, which allowed Weber to score and give MSUM an early 1-0 lead. 
 
Concordia would respond in the top of the second inning. Amanda Parsons led off the inning with a single and she advanced to second on a wild pitch. Hanna Mortenson then singled up the middle, advancing Parsons to third, Mortenson would advance to second on the center fielders throw that tried to nab Parsons at third base. Hannah Mihalik would bring Parsons home on single to right field, tying the game 1-1. 
 
The Golden Bears would take a two-run lead in the top of the third inning. Kris McIntyre hit a one out single to left field, Grace Beseman then sent her ninth home run of the season over the center field fence for a two-run shot, making it 3-1 CSP. 
 
The sleeping Dragons awoke in the bottom of the fifth inning for some big runs. Kaiya Sundeen led off the inning by reaching on a fielding error, Elizabeth Johnson was hit by a pitch to make it first and second. Shay Weber placed a perfect bunt single to load the bases, Emma Drummer then hit a sacrifice fly to left field, scoring Sundeen and making it a 3-2 game. Samantha Gjerde rocked a two-run single up the middle to give MSUM a 4-3 lead over the Golden Bears. The Dragons were not done yet as a few batters later, Ally Helgoe singled up the middle, scoring Gjerde to make it 5-3 Dragons. 
 
The Golden Bears tried to mount a rally in the top of the seventh inning. Kris McIntyre led off with a single and then Grace Beseman drove her in on a double to left field to make it 5-4 with the tying run on second base. Reece Dahl was able to get the next three batters out to seal the win for the Dragons. Dahl went all seven, striking out three batters in the game. 
 
Aryka Knoche started the game for the Golden Bears, she went 4.2 innings of work, allowing three earned runs on seven hits and four strikeouts. She suffered the loss and moved to 6-4 on the season. Bryanna Olson pitched 1.1 innings in relief, allowing zero hits and struck out two batters. 
 
Grace Beseman led the offense going 2-4 with three RBI's, a home run and a run scored. Kris McIntyre went 3-4 with two runs scored, Clara Heislen, Amanda Parsons, Hanna Mortenson, Hannah Mihalik and Taylor Griffin all got a hit in the game as well.