ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team is in action this upcoming weekend at the Emporia State Classic. This is the seventh straight season that the Golden Bears have competed in Emporia, Kansas in the month of February. 

The Golden Bears will be competing on Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Three out of the four games will be streamed on the pay-per-view MIAA Network along with free live stats. CSP's Saturday game against Rockhurst is the only game without live coverage. 

LAST TIME OUT

Concordia-St. Paul competed in the MSU Invitational Softball Tournament in the Maverick All-Sports Dome on Feb. 2-3. The Golden Bears picked up a pair of victories against Emporia State, but lost games to Lewis (Ill.) and Upper Iowa. 

The Golden Bears scored four runs in the third inning and three runs in the seventh inning to beat the Hornets 7-6 in the first game of the season. Junior Danni Sharum hit her second RBI single to tie the game, and then a wild pitch brought sophomore Riley Rosenthal home to take the lead. Junior pitcher Erica McCullough picked up her first win of the season and freshman Emmy Bowne recorded a save getting the last three outs.

Lewis used a three-run second inning to gain an advantage over the Golden Bears. CSP responded with RBI singles from Sharum and junior left fielder Rachel Novak to cut the lead to 3-2. Lewis got an insurance run in the sixth inning and CSP couldn't respond. The Golden Bears left 13 runners on base compared to only four for the Flyers in the 4-2 loss. 

The squad woke up hot on the morning of Saturday, Feb. 3. CSP scored seven runs off of a double from senior Alexus Houston and singles from Sydney Pelzer, Novak and Alexis Monty. This led the Golden Bears to an 8-2 victory for their second win of the weekend against the Hornets. Bowne picked up the first win of her career pitching all seven innings with five strikeouts and only walking two batters. 

Concordia scored five runs in the second inning against Upper Iowa, which wasn't enough in the 8-6 loss to round out the weekend. Senior Annalise Scamehorn tallied three RBIs on a second-inning single and a fourth-inning double. The double in the fourth inning tied the game at 6-6, but the Peacocks scored two runs in the fifth inning to get the victory. 

SEASON LEADERS

Novak was CSP's most consistent hitter during the opening weekend with a .462 batting average. She has six hits with three RBIs and one double so far. The junior has scored a team-high four runs with a .538 slugging percentage and a .462 on-base percentage.

Sharum has the best on-base percentage on the team at .643. She also has the second-best hitting percentage of .444 for the Golden Bears. Scamehorn has the best slugging percentage at .636 with a team-high three doubles. She's tied for the team-high with Monty in RBIs as each of them tallied four on the opening weekend. 

Bowne leads the pitching efforts with a 2.88 ERA. The freshman has struck out 11 batters while only giving up three walks in the opening weekend. McCullough posted a 7.00 ERA with five strikeouts and seven walks. 

MISSOURI-ST. LOUIS - Friday, Feb. 16 at 12:15 p.m.

Series History: Concordia-St. Paul 5, Missouri-St. Louis 2

Concordia-St. Paul first played Missouri-St. Louis back in 2002. The Golden Bears have played the Tritons four times since 2018 going 3-1 in those matchups.

This is the opening weekend of games for Missouri-St. Louis. The Tritons were picked fifth in the GLVC preseason poll after finishing 34-22 last season. Missouri-St. Louis finished in a tie for third at the GLVC Tournament and advanced to the NCAA Midwest Regional for the eighth time in the last 10 seasons. 

The Tritons return fifth-year seniors McKenzie Lamos and Irene Travis who finished Second Team All-GLVC last year. Lamos led the team with 44 RBIs, 18 doubles and nine home runs last season. Travis had a team-best .362 batting average with 15 doubles, four triples and five home runs. Junior catcher Courtney Settles also returns after receiving a Third Team All-GLVC selection last season. Missouri-St. Louis is led by interim head coach Chelsey Mulligan who is in her first season with the Tritons. 

ROCKHURST (MO.) - Saturday, Feb. 17 at 2:30 p.m.

Series History: Concordia-St. Paul 1, Rockhurst 0

The Golden Bears have played Rockhurst only once in 2013, winning the game 4-2. This is the opening weekend for the Hawks this season and they finished 21-26 last season with a 13-10 GLVC record. The Hawks were 1-2 last season against NSIC opponents with a loss to St. Cloud State and going 1-1 against Augustana. 

Rockhurst was picked eighth in the GLVC preseason poll. The Hawks return Third Team All-GLVC pitcher Avery Huffman for her sophomore season. Huffman posted a 6-6 record and 3.11 ERA with 81 strikeouts during her freshman campaign. She pitched five complete games and one shutout. 

The Hawks also return their top batter from last season in senior Maya Gallagher. She slashed .314/.461/.586 last season. She hit a team-high 10 home runs and 31 RBIs. Rockhurst is led by head coach Dana Goss who is in her first year with the program. Goss previously coached at Baker University (Kan.) and comes in with a 102-52 career record.

EMPORIA STATE - Saturday, Feb. 17 at 4:45 p.m.

Series History: Concordia-St. Paul 9, Emporia State 12

CSP first played Emporia State in 2004 and won three of the first four matchups. Concordia lost six straight games against the Hornets from 2006-2015. CSP came into this season with three straight losses to Emporia State before winning the first two matchups against the Hornets this year. 

After going 1-5 in the Minnesota State Invitational, the Hornets bounced back this last weekend with a 3-1 record at the Alvy Early Memorial Classic in Arkansas. The Hornets have played the most games out of any other team that CSP will play at this tournament with a 4-6 total record in the 2024 campaign. Emporia State was picked ninth in the MIAA preseason poll. 

Senior outfielder Alexis Dial leads the Hornets this season with a .448 batting average and a team-high five doubles. Dial has a .571 batting average and a .714 slugging percentage against the Golden Bears this season. Senior Lexi Williams has a .433 batting average this session for the Hornets. She tallied three hits with an RBI and scored two runs against CSP this season. 

The Hornets have used five pitchers this season. Emporia State's top pitcher has been Kelly Hipsher with a 0.55 ERA in 12.2 innings pitched. Gracie Rabe posted a 1.70 ERA against the Golden Bears in game one whereas Josie Harrison picked up the loss in game two giving up the seven early runs. 

Emporia State is coached by April Rosales who is in her ninth season. She has a record of 212-208 entering this weekend. She has taken the Hornets to two MIAA Championship appearances and won the MIAA Championship in 2018. 

MARYVILLE (MO.) - Sunday, Feb. 18 at 12:15 p.m.

Series History: Concordia-St. Paul 0, Maryville 0

This will be the first matchup of all time between the Saints and the Golden Bears. Maryville comes into this weekend 0-4 after competing in the Central Oklahoma/Oklahoma Christian Tournament on Feb. 9-10. Despite losing all four games, Maryville only lost by one run to No. 3 Central Oklahoma in the final game. 

The Saints were picked fourth in the GLVC preseason poll after going 30-21 last year and 15-9 in GLVC play. Maryville returns a First Team All-GLVC selection in senior Kylie Swinney. She led the conference in triples last season while hitting .347 with 28 RBIs. The Saints also return Chayse Ramey and Emily Corona who were Third Team All-GLVC last year. Ramey posted a 3.63 ERA last season with a 10-10 record. Corona hit .313 with a team-high 29 RBIs and 11 doubles. 

This season, the Saints are led by Addison Koth slashing .429/.500/.571 with three hits and one double. Freshman Jenna Kosnoff is hitting .400 in 10 at-bats. Ramey has a 2.62 ERA this season with five strikeouts, but giving up 14 hits.

Head coach Courtney Conley is in her sixth season at the helm of the program. She has a 111-93 record at Maryville entering this weekend.