BISMARCK, N.D. - Concordia-St. Paul softball (35-12-1, 18-10 NSIC) closed out the regular season with a pair of wins at the University of Mary (7-37, 5-19 NSIC) on Monday afternoon, taking game one 8-5 before an extra inning 7-3 win in game two in nine frames.

Concordia finished the regular season in sixth place overall in the 16-team league, earning the No. 6 seed in the 10-team NSIC Tournament. The Golden Bears will face No. 3 seed Winona State on Thursday, May 5 at noon in Rochester, Minnesota in a double elimination tournament. The tournament is scheduled to be played May 5, 6 and 7 with the champion earning the NSIC's automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament.

Sophomore center fielder and leadoff hitter Clara Heislen went 5-8 with a pair of runs, a double and four RBIs in the doubleheader while freshman Sydney Pelzer continued to drive in runs, going 3-8 with two runs, two doubles and three RBIs.

GAME 1: CSP 8, MARY 5
Clara Heislen and Alexus Houston opened the doubleheader with back-to-back doubles, with Houston picking up an RBI and later scoring on an error for a 2-0 lead.

The Marauders trimmed the lead to 2-1 in the second inning as the teams traded scoreless frames until the fifth inning.

Sophomore right handed starting pitcher Bryanna Olson was stellar in the circle, allowing only a leadoff home run in the second as she sailed into the later innings, allowing only one runner into scoring position in the first four frames with five strikeouts.

In the fifth, the Golden Bears gave her support with a 2-out rally started on a walk to Heislen with Houston following with a single before Amanda Parsons walked to load the bases. Pelzer delivered a bases clearing double to center to blow the game open with Avery Johnson driving her in with a single to center as five straight reached and four scored for a 6-1 lead.

The Marauders got one back in the bottom of the fifth, but Concordia tacked on two more with another 2-out rally in the sixth with Heislen delivering a 2-run single to center.

Olson improved to 19-6 with the win, striking out eight in the complete game while allowing five runs on nine hits.

Heislen (2-3), Houston (2-4) and Johnson (2-4) each had 2-hit games as Heislen (11), Houston (10), Pelzer (11) and Veenbaas (8) all slugged doubles while pinch runner Halle Bemmels stole her 11th base of the year

GAME 2: CSP 7, MARY 3 (9 innings)
Similar to game one, game two had a 2-1 score heading into the later innings, but this time it was UMary who carried the upper hand, responding to Danni Sharum's leadoff home run in the second inning with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning.

After the two runs scored with two outs against McCullough, the freshman settled in as she only allowed one runner into scoring position from the third through sixth innings, a stray 2-out stolen base before inducing a groundout to the next batter in the fourth.

In the top of the seventh, Avery Johnson hit a 1-out double and scored on Payton Hanson's 2-out pinch hit RBI single to tie the game.

McCullough worked out of a threat in the seventh, with the Marauders loading the bases with two outs, forcing a groundout to end the inning.

After each team went down in order in the eighth, the Golden Bears sparked in the ninth, using another 2-out rally as Sydney Pelzer hit a 1-out double and scored with Sharum's 2-out RBI single to center.

Sharum's go-ahead single started a hit parade, as four of the next five batters registered singles, with Taylor Griffin mixing in a walk in between. Cam Veenbaas and Clara Heislen had back-to-back 2-run singles as CSP plated five in the inning for a 7-2 lead.

The Marauders got one back in the ninth, but McCullough limited the damage, forcing UMary to leave two aboard.

McCullough improved to 9-5 with the complete game win, working all nine innings and allowing three runs on eight hits with four strikeouts.

Heislen paced the lineup from the top, going 3-5 with a pair of RBIs. Sharum had a big day, getting the start behind the plate as Parsons earned a reprieve as the designated player. Sharum went 2-4 with her second home run and a pair of RBIs.

Veenbaas continued her big day, going 2-5 with two runs, a double and two RBIs overall and going 1-3 with a run and two RBIs in game two.

With her big pinch hit RBI single, Hanson is now hitting .478 (11-23) with a .556 on base percentage on the season.

Concordia's productive bench features five players hitting .300 or better while nine different players have earned starts at designated player with six of those players picking up at least five starts and no one starting more than 15 games at DP.