BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul Softball team was tabbed seventh in the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference Preseason Coaches' Poll, the league announced on Wednesday. 

The Golden Bears received 119 points in the poll. This finished four points behind MSU Moorhead in sixth place and was 32 points ahead of Bemidji State in eighth place with 87 points. 

NSIC coaches rank each team from one to 14 with a first-place vote receiving 14 points, second place 13, third place 12, etc. Coaches do not rank their own team or vote for their own players in the preseason poll.

Concordia-St. Paul finished with a 30-28, 13-15 NSIC record during the 2023 campaign. The Golden Bears ended their 2023 season with a 7-6 loss to St. Cloud State in the double elimination NSIC tournament. After finishing ninth in regular season play, CSP finished as a final four team in the NSIC in the conference tournament. 

The Golden Bears graduated some pitching talent from last season with Bryanna Olson and Kristi Pilz leaving, but return many top hitters from last year's squad. 

"We return six starters, and we feel really good about the players that will be stepping into the spots that we lost to graduation," said head coach Bob Bartel. "Our goal is to have a balanced offense, one that can continue to hit the ball over the fence and have timely hitting. We're going to work on being more aggressive on the base paths, hoping that will lead to more runs scored. We believe we have the pieces to keep improving in the circle, and on defense to improve our standing in NSIC play." 

Bartel enters his 20th season as the head coach of the Golden Bears. He has an overall record of 529-442-1 with a 246-212 NSIC record. 

Senior outfielder Clara Heislen was named the player to watch for Concordia-St. Paul. She finished last season as a Third Team All-American and was the Week Five NSIC Player of the Week. Heislen had the best on base percentage on the team at .389 and a slugging percentage of .580. She also had a team-high 38 RBIs with 12 home runs tallying a .287 batting average.

"Clara brings a vast amount of experience to our lineup, she's been our starting centerfielder since day one of her freshman year," Bartel said. "She's the heart and soul of this team, a fierce competitor and true leader on and off the field."

Junior pitcher Erica McCullough was named the pitcher to watch for the Golden Bears. The lefty finished last season with a 9-7 record striking out 60 batters in 121.1 innings pitched. 

"Erica has been an integral part of our pitching staff for two seasons now, that experience and her drive to continue to improve will benefit her and our team," Bartel said. "Erica has a great compete level that is evident whenever she's in the circle, she's a confident pitcher that will do whatever she can to help her team win."

The Golden Bears start the season in Mankato at the MSU Invitational Softball Tournament on Feb. 2. Concordia-St. Paul will face Emporia State (Kan.) twice along with taking on Lewis (Ill.) and Upper Iowa during that opening weekend in the Maverick All-Sports Dome. 

Augustana was picked first in the preseason poll for the fifth consecutive year. This marks the sixth time (2012, 2020, 2021, 2022 & 2023) that the Vikings have been selected by the coaches to win the league. The Vikings amassed 193 points and 11 first place votes. 

Minnesota Duluth was second with 168 points and the other four first place votes. Winona State followed in third place with 168 points. The Warriors are followed by Minnesota State in fourth with 155 points and St. Cloud State in fifth place with 144 points.

The 2024 NSIC Softball season gets underway with non-conference play in February, while the 28-game NSIC schedule is set to begin on Saturday, March 23. The Golden Bears start conference play on March 23 at home against Minnesota Crookston. 

The 2024 NSIC Softball Tournament will have a 10-team single elimination format over four days played in Sioux Falls, South Dakota on May 1-4, 2024. 

#21 Clara Heislen (OF, Sr., R/L, Las Vegas, Nev.)

• Third Team All-America

• CSC Academic All-District

• NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence

• 2023 Week Five NSIC Player of the Week

• Slashed .287/.389/.580

• Tallied 38 RBIs with 13 doubles and one triple on 50 hits

• Tallied 15 multi-hit games

• Hit a team-high 12 home runs

#10 Erica McCullough (LHP, Jr., L/L, Greenville Ind.)

• NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence 

• Appeared in 29 games with 20 starts

• Posted a 9-7 record in 2023

• Tallied 60 strikeouts facing 496 batters on the season

• Posted a 4.21 ERA

• Had a season-high six strikeouts in 3-2 win over Sioux Falls (4/4)