TOPEKA, Kan. – Concordia-St. Paul softball split games against Quincy (Ill.) and Washburn (Kan.) at the Third Annual ESU-5 State Classic on Sunday at Gahnstom Field.
The Golden Bears (2-5, 0-0 NSIC) snapped a four game losing skid with a 5-3 victory over the Quincy Hawks (1-2, 0-0 GLVC) in game one.
Clara Heislen led the Golden Bears after going a perfect 3-for-3 from the plate with three RBIs, two runs and a walk.
Bryanna Olson recorded her second double-digit strikeout performance on the mound this season with 10 in the winning effort.
In game two, the Golden Bears (2-6, 0-0 NSIC) fell to host school #21 Washburn (9-3, 0-0 MIAA), 6-1.
Danni Sharum led the Golden Bears with two of their three hits in the contest. The Ichabods ace, Jayce Ginter, pitched a no-hitter through four complete innings and notched five strikeouts in the winning effort.
GAME 1: CSP 5, QUINCY 3
Despite outhitting Hawks 3-1 in the opening innings, Concordia could not drive any runs across the plate in the first two innings.
In the third inning, with
Taylor Griffin on first after reaching on a single to left center, Heislen would spark the Golden Bears offense with a two RBI homerun to center field. The following two batters,
Alexus Houston and
Grace Beseman, would double Concordia's lead with home runs of their own.
After not reaching the scoreboard for the next three innings, Heislen added an insurance run in the seventh inning with her second home run of the day that coasted over the left field wall.
Quincy responded with a late rally in the seventh with a two RBI double, followed by a sacrifice fly to left field that cut the lead two runs with two outs in the inning. However,
Bryanna Olson would finish strong with a strikeout to end the game and secure the 5-3 victory.
Notables
Heislen finished the game a perfect 3-for-3 with three RBIs, two runs and a walk.
Beseman and Houston added home runs for the Golden Bears in the victory.
Olson (2-2) improved her record to .500 with a strong performance from the mound. The junior pitched the entire seven inning affair and collected 10 strikeouts, her second double-digit day of the season.
CSP swung the bats well by outhitting Quincy 8-to-6, and neither team was charged with an error.
GAME 2: CSP 1, WASHBURN 6
Washburn used a strong pitching performance from their ace, Ginter, to pitch a shutout for the first four innings.
The Ichabods struck first in the contest with a three run homer from their do-it-all Picher in the bottom of the first inning. They would add two more runs in the bottom of the third inning from Jaden LaBarge to extend their lead to five runs.
After a scoreless fourth inning from both teams, CSP would score their first run of the game in the top of the fifth inning after
Annalise Scamehorn hit a sacrifice fly to right field to drive home
Tori Turgeon from third.
Washburn would respond with an insurance run in the bottom of the fifth inning and would go on to take the 6-1 win.
Notables
Sharum led the Golden Bears in hits with two, while
Sydney Pelzer added the third and final hit in the fifth inning.
Scamehorn recorded the lone RBI for the Golden Bears.
Kristi Pilz (0-3) was charged with the loss. The junior allowed seven hits and five earned runs in 3.0 innings with a strikeout and walked one batter.
Erica McCullough pitched 3.0 innings in relief. The sophomore allowed four hits and one earned run with a pair of strikeouts and walked two batters.
Up Next: CSP softball will return to action tomorrow in Emporia, Kansas, against Missouri-St. Louis (Mo.) at 10 a.m. and will conclude play against Emporia State (Kan.) at 12:15 p.m.
