ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (20-23, 6-12 NSIC) announced that their pair of doubleheaders with Northern State (12-26, 6-12 NSIC) and MSU Moorhead (24-10, 12-4 NSIC) have each moved back a day due to weather.. The Golden Bears take on NSU on Sunday at 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m., and MSUM on Monday with games at 1:00 p.m. and 3:00 p.m.
WATCH ONLINE – NSIC NETWORK
All Golden Bear softball games will be available to watch online, free of charge, powered by the NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology. Visit nsicnetwork.com/cspbears on a laptop or desktop computer, download the NSIC Network app on your mobile device or watch on your supported OTT provider such as Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Search "NSIC Network" and download the app for the league's full sport and team lineups. NSIC NETWORK FAQ
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
NSIC STANDINGS
Concordia softball head into the weekend tied for 12th in the NSIC Standings at 6-12 with Northern State. When it comes to making the 10-team NSIC Tournament, the Golden Bears are currently on the outside looking in with ten games left to go. The Bears are 1.5 games back of 10th ranked Upper Iowa (6-9 NSIC) and three games back of Bemidji State (7-7 NSIC) for the ninth seed. The Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs are in first with a 15-3 conference record with Winona State and Augustana trailing close behind at 13-3.
SERIES HISTORY: CSP 37, NORTHERN STATE 10
The Golden Bears dominated NSU at the beginning of their series history, winning the first 27 meetings after CSP joined the NSIC for the 2000 season, but the wolves rebounded in the 2010's, winning nine of 14 between 2011 and 2018. More recently, however, Concordia has captured wins in five of the last six games with NSU. Northern State's most recent win over the Bears came in 2021 to knock CSP out of the NSIC Tournament.
Concordia swept the Wolves at Carlander Field in 2022, knocking them off 9-1 in five innings in game one and winning game two in comeback fashion 10-7. The Golden Bears are 34-9 against NSU in conference games and 11-4 all-time on the road.
ABOUT THE WOLVES
Northern State enters the week tied with CSP at 12th in the conference standings and on a four game losing streak. The Wolves are led by second year head coach Ashley Schilling. Schilling was an NSIC standout player at Minnesota Duluth and worked as an assistant coach for Cincinnati Christian University and Missouri Western before getting the job at NSU.
The Wolves are led by 2022 Second Team All-NSIC selection Liv Richardson. The center fielder is batting .324 with a .384 on-base percentage and .431 slugging percentage. NSU's player to watch in the circle is Lexi Chase. The junior has had to step into the ace role for Northern State and has struggled to find consistency, going 5-11 with a 4.81 ERA.
SERIES HISTORY: CSP 41, MSU MOORHEAD 9
Concordia and MSU Moorhead have met 50 times since CSP joined the NSIC in 1999-2000, with the Golden Bears holding a commanding lead in the series. The Dragons have never swept a season series against the Bears and have only defeated CSP in consecutive games twice (2000 & 2004). Concordia's longest win streak against MSUM sits at 12 games between 2007-2013 and have won 12 of 13 coming into 2023.
Concordia holds a 9-3 record against the Dragons in Moorhead and a 33-9 record in conference games. The Golden Bears swept the series in 2022, defeating MSUM 9-4 in game one before walking off game two on an Amanda Parsons' home run .
ABOUT THE DRAGONS
MSU Moorhead is having a historic season as their 24 wins already ranks seventh best all-time with 10 games left to play in the regular season. Head coach Mike Armitage has turned the program around in his second season at the helm, guiding the Dragons to their first 20+ win season in 16 years.
Two of the biggest reasons for MSUM's success this season have been Mack Gallagher and Evey Evans. Gallagher has exploded on the NSIC scene as a freshman, leading the conference in batting average (.439), on-base percentage (.512), slugging percentage (.757), and has the most RBI (40). The rookie is also sixth in hits with 48 and home runs with eight. Evans has been a threat at the plate and in the circle, batting .432 with eight home runs while pitching to 6-3 record with a 2.66 ERA.
ABOUT THE GOLDEN BEARS: OVERALL & CONFERENCE
Concordia softball has been up and down this season, but the bats have remained fairly consistent from game to game with several players stepping up each game. The Golden Bears are second in the conference in hits with 336 and runs with 222. CSP's 43 home runs rank 23rd in the country and are also second most in the NSIC.
Clara Heislen has led the power surge for the Bears hitting nine home runs so far this season, tying her for fourth most in the conference. Avery Johnson, Grace Beseman, and Dani Sharum are tied for the tenth most home runs in the NSIC with seven each to add to the fireworks. Beseman, along with Sydney Pelzer, also ranks tenth in doubles with 11.
Alexus Houston's speed has been a weapon on the bases this year as she is tied for seventh in triples (3) and runs scored (32). Annalise Scamehorn has been the fourth toughest hitter to strikeout in the conference in 2023 with an at-bat to strikeout ratio of 24:1. In the circle, Bryanna Olson has struck out the third most batters with 131 K's. Olson's 22 starts leads the NSIC and her 13 complete games rank second.
CAREER RECORD WATCH
There are several Golden Bears in the top-10 career stat rankings for Concordia who are continuing to climb. Grace Beseman and Clara Heislen are tied for third in Concordia history in home runs with 28 and tied for tenth all-time in doubles with 33. Heislen is ninth in stolen bases with 42, one spot ahead of Beseman in tenth with 41. Heislen's 124 runs scored ranks sixth and Beseman's 106 runs batted in ranks tenth.
Alexus Houston is tied for the sixth all-time with seven triples. Sydney Pelzer also cracks the top-10 in a tie for the second most sacrifice flies in school history with nine.
In the circle Bryanna Olson ranks eighth in total wins with 40 third in saves with seven. Olson is ninth in complete games (22) and eighth in shutouts (7). The junior continues to rack up strikeouts and ranks fifth all time in total K's with 417.
