WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - Concordia-St. Paul softball (13-2-1) closed out a strong showing at THE Spring Games on Sunday late afternoon and evening with a split, defeating St. Thomas Aquinas (2-5) 4-3 before falling to Lock Haven (3-4) 9-3 in the finale to snap a 14-game unbeaten streak, handing CSP its second loss of the season and first loss since a 1-run defeat in the season opener.

Concordia will continue non-conference play next weekend in St. Joseph, Missouri at the Fairfield Classic hosted by Missouri Western State University. CSP will face five in-region opponents including #10 Central Oklahoma from Friday to Sunday.

The Golden Bears went 6-1-1 on the spring trip, outscoring the opposition 46-13. They had a 10-game winning streak and a 14-game unbeaten streak.

GAME 1: CSP 4, St. Thomas Aquinas 3
The Golden Bears were locked in a low scoring affair that remained scoreless after three innings, but starting pitcher Bryanna Olson stayed in a groove, carrying a no-hitter into the sixth inning, allowing the offense to break out in the second and third time through the lineup to take the first lead.

Sophomore right fielder Alexus Houston provided the power, breaking open the scoring with a 1-out solo home run in the fourth inning. In the fifth, she came up again, this time with two runners on and two outs, smashing a 3-run blast for a 4-0 lead.

The 3-run homer was timely, as STAC came up with a 3-run sixth inning, adding their own 3-run homer before Olson held on for the win, pitching out of a jam with 1st and 3rd in the seventh, inducing a squeeze bunt double play with Grace Beseman fielding the bunt and throwing to Taylor Griffin covering third for the final out.

Olson improved to 9-1 on the year with the complete game win, allowing only five runners to reach via hit (3) or walk (2). On the trip, she went 4-0 with a save, a 1.18 ERA in 23.2 innings wiht 21 strikeouts in five appearances (four starts) with three complete games. She holds a 1.02 ERA on the season.

GAME 2: Lock Haven 9, CSP 3
A rare 2022 occurrence struck Concordia, as Lock Haven took the early lead with an unearned run against Erica McCullough in the first inning.

It didn't deter leadoff hitter Clara Heislen, who hit a 2-run homer with two outs in the third inning to give CSP its first lead of the game.

In the bottom of the third, Lock Haven struck back with a tough luck inning for McCullough and CSP, scoring eight runs with four being unearned and capped by a 2-out, 3-run homer.

From there, Kristi Pilz settled into a groove and kept LHU off the scoreboard the rest of the way, recording nine straight outs in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings. She finished the day allowing zero earned runs (three total) across 3.2 innings, striking out two without issuing any walks. McCullough took her first loss of the year, falling to 2-1, with only four of the runs against her charged as earned.

Offensively, Heislen added her third homer of the year and is now tied for the team lead with 13 RBIs on the season while Beseman was 2-3 and is hitting .460 on the season, maintaining a .509 on base percentage.

SPRING TRIP PLAYER NOTES
Grace Beseman led the team in hitting at .480 (12-25) ... Alexus Houston had the strongest OPS at 1.422, hitting .450/.522/.900 (9-20) with team-highs in runs (8), homers (3) and stolen bases (4-4) ... Clara Heislen had a strong .333/.467/.708 (8-24) slash line including a team-best six walks, tying for the team lead in runs (8) while hitting the second most homers (2), RBIs (7) and stolen bases (3-3) ... the team's RBI leader on break was Sydney Pelzer (8) ... Bryanna Olson anchored the pitching staff, going 4-0 with a save in 5 appearances (4 starts) and a 1.18 ERA ... all three CSP pitchers carried a sub-2.00 ERA with Pilz holding a 0.00 ERA in 10.0 innings with a win in three appearances and one start and McCullough going 1-1 in three starts with a 1.95 ERA in 14.1 innings with 13 strikeouts ... Afton Zemke also contributed a perfect inning in one relief appearance.

SPRING TRIP TEAM NOTES
The Golden Bears held a 46-13 run differential, using a .333/.414/.464 (69-207) team slash line while limiting opponents to a .192/.259/.254 (34-177) hitting line ... CSP had a 12-2 margin in doubles, 5-3 in home runs, 28-13 in walks and 12-3 in stolen bases ... CSP had a .967 team fielding percentage compared to a .955 for the opposition ... the Golden Bear pitchers had a 1.14 team ERA compared to 6.55 for opposing hurlers and had four more strikeouts (39-35) on the week.

All 20 Golden Bears played in at least two games on the spring trip, with 14 position players making at least one start and three pitchers making at least one start.