ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team close out the 2023 regular season this weekend with a pair of doubleheaders against University of Mary (7-36, 2-22 NSIC) and Minot State (27-19, 14-10 NSIC). Due to inclement weather in the area, both series this weekend to Mankato, Minnesota at the Maverick All-Sports Dome. The Golden Bears take on the Marauders on Saturday and the Beavers on Sunday with games on both days set for 3:00 p.m. and 5:00 p.m.
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PLAYOFF PICTURE
The Golden Bears (24-25 overall) enter the final weekend tied for tenth in the NSIC standings with Bemidji State with conference records of 10-14 and 8-12 respectively. The Beavers have six games left compared to four for Concordia. BSU holds the tiebreaker with CSP, defeating them twice in conference play. Bemidji State hosts Minnesota Crookston on Thursday before welcoming Southwest Minnesota State (11-14) and Sioux Falls (12-13) on Saturday and Sunday. USF and SMSU could still be overtaken by Concordia or Bemidji as the eighth, ninth and tenth playoff spots are all up for grabs.
SERIES HISTORY: CSP 22, UMARY 15
The Golden Bears and Marauders have met 37 times, 34 of them coming since 2007, with CSP holding a 22-15 lead in the series. The Golden Bears have won nine straight against UMary dating back to 2017. In league play, Concordia is 17-9 against the Marauders. UMary has found some success against the Bears in games at neutral venues, going 5-6, but Saturday's game will be the first between the two in Mankato.
ABOUT THE MARAUDERS
UMary has had a rough year so far this season, going 7-36 and starting the conference season on a 19-game losing streak. The Marauders are coming off just their second NSIC win, defeating Northern State (4-2) with their only other win coming against Upper Iowa (12-6). They are led by second year head coach Dre Frantz, who starred for the program from 2007-2011.
The Marauders pitching and defense has struggled this season, giving up the most runs (365), walks (196), and highest batting average against (.352) while holding the highest ERA at 7.73. UMary's bright spots have come on offense from their players to watch, Sariah Perez and Devyn Ritz. Perez is batting .284 and leads the team in RBIs with 21 while slugging .484 with six doubles, two triples and three home runs. Ritz leads the team in doubles with eleven while batting .301 with three home runs.
SERIES HISTORY: MINOT 12, CSP 7
The Golden Bears and Beavers have only met 19 times, with Minot State holding the 12-7 advantage in the series. Concordia has been turning the tide in the past five years, defeating the Beavers in five of the last seven games against them, including sweeping them in 2022 and 2021. The 10-3 and 8-6 road victories in 2022 were the first wins ever for the Golden Bears on the road at Minot. CSP is 5-11 in conference games against the Beavers and 3-5 at home.
ABOUT THE BEAVERS
Minot State has had a successful season so far in 2023 and sit comfortably in seventh with four games to go. The Beavers have a good chance of playing Concordia again in the opening round of the NSIC Tournament if the Bears claim the tenth seed and Minot stays at seventh. They are led by first year head coach Bailey Gaspar who joined the team after serving as an assistant coach at Hawaii at Hilo.
The Beavers are first in the conference and 21st in the country in triples with 20, led by junior Gabi Dawyduk. The two way player is batting .330 with a .484 slugging percentage with six doubles and four triples. In the circle Dawyduk (3-1) has the lowest ERA on the team at 3.20 with 15 strikeouts.
