PITTSBURG, Kan. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (18-6) lost both games of a doubleheader on Sunday against No. 13 Pittsburg State (30-2). The Golden Bears fell by a score of 10-4 in game one and a narrow 3-2 margin in game two. 

Concordia-St. Paul was led in hits by freshman Alexis Monty with four hits and reaching home twice. Senior Alexus Houston hit her second home run of the weekend to lead the team with three RBIs. Sophomore Riley Rosenthal tallied three hits with an RBI and scored twice. 

Freshman Emmy Bowne threw three strikeouts in the first game while walking two batters. Junior Erica McCullough threw two strikeouts in the second game only walking a single batter. 

The Golden Bears finish the weekend with a 3-2 record at the Teri Mathis-Zenner MIAA/NSIC Crossover Tournament. Concordia-St. Paul will now prep for conference play this weekend in doubleheaders against Minnesota Crookston and Bemidji State. 

Game One

Pittsburg State started the game by scoring six runs off of seven hits in the opening inning. The Gorillas hit six singles and a double scoring rapidly to start the contest. 

The score remained 6-0 until CSP got on the board in the bottom of the third inning. Monty hit the first double of the game for the Golden Bears to put herself in scoring position. Following a single by Rosenthal, junior Danni Sharum hit a double down the right-field line to bring Monty in for the score. 

Houston then hit her second home run of the weekend bringing in three runs for the Golden Bears. This was the 16th home run of Houston's career after she hit a solo home run on Saturday against UNK. 

The Gorillas added to their lead with a run in the fourth inning and three runs in the bottom of the seventh inning. Concordia-St. Paul had runners in scoring position just twice after the third inning and all three batters stuck out in the seventh inning to end the game. 

Monty finished with a team-high three hits in four at-bats. Houston tallied two hits and three RBIs. Sharum finished with one hit and one RBI. 

Bowne pitched all six innings for CSP throwing three strikeouts. She walked two batters and all 10 runs were earned. The right-handed pitcher threw 112 total pitches and dropped her record to 8-4 on the season. 

Pittsburg State had 15 hits and Concordia-St. Paul had 10 hits. The Golden Bears had the lone error of the game. Both teams left six runners on base. Pittsburg State's pitchers Ava Laurent and Hannah Martin combined for nine strikeouts. 

Game Two

After both teams recorded hits in the first few innings, Pittsburg State got the scoring going in the third inning with shortstop Hannah Burnett hitting an RBI single to take an early 1-0 lead. 

The game remained scoreless until the sixth inning which started with Monty reaching first by beating the throw from the pitcher on a bunt. Rosenthal then hit an RBI triple to tie the game at 1-1.

Senior Clara Heislen popped up a flyout in foul territory near the left field line, bringing in Rosenthal on the sacrifice fly. The 2-1 advantage was CSP's lone lead against Pittsburg State over the doubleheader. 

The lead didn't last long as Pittsburg State started the bottom of the sixth with a double and a triple to tie the game. Pinch hitter Sydney Sneed hit a sacrifice fly to bring in the go-ahead run for the Gorillas. The Golden Bears struck out twice and grounded out in the seventh inning. 

Rosenthal led the team with two hits and an RBI. Monty, Sharum, junior Sydney Pelzer and senior Annalise Scamehorn each recorded a hit. 

McCullough pitched all six innings for CSP throwing two strikeouts. She only walked one batter in the game and threw 86 pitches. McCullough's record dropped to 10-2 on the season with the loss. 

The Golden Bears were outhit 9-6. Neither team had an error. Pittsburg State pitcher Kiana Pogroszewski threw six strikeouts in the contest. The Gorillas left six runners on base compared to three for the Golden Bears.