CLERMONT, Fla. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (7-2) started their weeklong schedule of games in Florida on Friday morning picking up a pair of victories. CSP defeated Bridgeport (Conn.) (2-8) by a score of 9-5 in the first game and picked up a 10-2 win in the second game against Goldey-Beacom (Del.) (1-8).

Junior Riley Rosenthal hit two triples in the first game with two RBIs. She finished the day with four hits in six at-bats. Senior Alexus Houston had four RBIs in the second game against Goldey-Beacom and scored three times total on the day. Freshman Alexis Monty continued her stellar start to the season hitting an inside-the-park home run and a double. Pitchers Emmy Bowne and Erica McCullough each picked up wins. 

The Golden Bears will be back in action on Saturday morning against Findlay (Ohio.) and Dominican (N.Y.). CSP is playing Findlay at 8 a.m. and Dominican at 12:30 p.m. 

CSP vs Bridgeport

The Golden Bears scored five runs in the third inning and three runs in the fourth inning to pick up their first victory of the day. Monty started the scoring in the third inning with a wild inside-the-park home run down the right-field line. 

Bridgeport answered in the bottom of the third inning scoring four runs to take a 4-1 lead. CSP responded in the top of the fourth starting with a Houston single followed by a triple by junior Sydney Pelzer to bring Houston home. Senior Annalise Scamehorn then hit an RBI single to cut the lead down to 4-3.

Later in the inning, Rosenthal hit a 2RBI triple to give the Golden Bears a 5-4 lead. On the next at-bat, senior Clara Heislen singled to center field to bring Rosenthal home for the sixth run. 

After the first two batters were out to start the fourth inning, the Golden Bears rallied to add three more runs. Pelzer started it with a double which was followed by an RBI single by Scamehorn. A few batters later, junior Rachel Novak hit a 2RBI double to center field to extend the lead to 9-4. 

Bowne pitched all seven innings with a season-high seven strikeouts. She walked six batters and gave up three earned runs. The freshman improved her season record to 3-1 with the victory.

The Golden Bears outhit Bridgeport 15-8 in the game. Bridgeport left nine runners on base compared to six for Concordia-St. Paul. CSP had nine RBIs compared to three for Bridgeport which all came from third baseman Angela Oros for the Purple Knights. 

CSP vs Goldey-Beacom

Concordia started the game by scoring five runs in the bottom of the first inning. Monty began the hitting with a double followed by a Rosenthal single. After Heislen walked, Houston hit a 3RBI triple to put the Golden Bears on the board. 

On the next at-bat, Pelzer laid down a bunt and reached second base after a wild throw by the Lightning third baseman, which also brought Houston home. Scamehorn then hit a sacrifice fly to bring in Pelzer for the fifth run.

After Goldey-Beacom scored a run in the top of the second, CSP answered with five more runs via three errors by the Lightning in the bottom of the second. The Golden Bears scored their first run of the inning after a throwing error by pitcher Alesia Doctor. 

Junior Danni Sharum then hit an RBI bunt to bring in the seventh run. Following that, Houston laid down a sacrifice bunt, which led to another errant throw by Doctor. This brought in both base runners and Houston herself on the play to extend the lead to 10-1.

The Lightning scored one more run in the third inning before both teams were shut out the rest of the way. Concordia-St. Paul picked up the victory in five innings due to the eight-run rule. 

McCullough pitched all five innings throwing three strikeouts, improving her season record to 4-1. She walked seven batters and gave up two earned runs. Goldey-Beacom outhit Concordia-St. Paul 8-6, but had four errors compared to only one for the Golden Bears. 

CSP left 0 runners on base in the game and Goldey-Beacom left 12 runners on base. The Golden Bears had a total of seven RBIs off of its six hits and only had one batter walk.