FAYETTE, Iowa - CSP softball (24-25, 10-14 NSIC) swept the Upper Iowa Peacocks (15-26, 7-16 NSIC) in the final meeting between the two programs in NSIC regular season play on Tuesday afternoon at Eischeid Softball Complex.
The Golden Bears will return to action this Saturday at Carlander Field with a doubleheader against the Mary Marauders beginning at 12:00 p.m. with game two following shortly after.
GAME ONE: Concordia 5, Upper Iowa 1
The Peacocks threatened to score in the bottom of the first after they loaded the bases with one out. Golden Bears pitcher
Bryanna Olson was able to work her way out of it by taking a grounder herself and quickly getting to the plate for the force out. She would cap off the innings with a strikeout to conclude the inning.
UIU loaded the bases with one out once again in the fourth inning and was able to force one across on a walk to take the lead. On the flip side, Upper Iowa's pitching and defense shut down the Concordia offense, facing just six batters and striking out three.
The Golden Bears found some traction in the third inning, with CSP getting two on with the top of the order coming up.
Clara Heislen tied things up on a single to left field to score pinch runner
Tori Turgeon. A double steal from
Riley Rosenthal and Heislen got runners in scoring position for
Alexus Houston. The junior hit a laser to right center that should have scored two, but UIU center fielder Ari Charles made a sensational catch to hold Heislen at second and limit Houston to a sacrifice fly.
They continued to build momentum in the fourth inning, scoring two more to double their lead.
Avery Johnson got things started, working a one out walk. CSP player of the week
Annalise Scamehorn continued her hit streak with an RBI double to the left field corner to score Johnson from first.
Danni Sharum followed it up with a single to bring in Scamehorn but got caught up and tagged out between first and second to end the inning. Concordia got one more run in the fifth on a sacrifice fly from Houston to drive in Rosenthal and give the Bears a 5-1 lead that would stand till the end of the game.
Olson and the defense would close things out from there, holding the Peacocks to just one hit over the final three innings. Olson (14-14) had a great outing in her 16th complete game with a trio of strikeouts.
GAME TWO: CSP 8, UIU 3
The Golden Bears picked up right where they left off in game one with a barrage of runs in the opening inning to take an early 7-0 lead that propelled them to the 8-3 victory.
The Golden Bears finished with eight total hits in the game.
Jacey Defries and Heislen shined in game two with multi-hit games that included a double and a home run each, while Rosenthal added a team-leading two-RBIs on a 1-2 outing at the plate.
Olson (15-14) tallied her second winning performance of the afternoon after appearing in the circle for her second straight start. The junior went all seven innings with four strikeouts, while allowing seven hits, two earned runs and four walks.
Heislen opened the game with a leadoff home run to spark the seven-run first inning. After loading the bases with back-to-back walks, the Golden Bears scored on the next five plays that were highlighted by a run-scoring double by Heislen and RBI singles from Scamehorn and Rosenthal to put Concordia up front, 7-0.
However, the Peacocks did not go away quietly as they scored three unanswered runs in the first, fourth and fifth innings to cut the Golden Bears' lead to 7-3.
Defries added an insurance run in the top of the seventh inning with her fifth home run of the season that sailed over the fence to give CSP a five-run advantage with a half-inning remaining. Olson and the defense sealed the deal after stranding a pair of runners in scoring position with three consecutive outs to secure the 8-3 victory and series sweep.
