WINTER HAVEN, Fla. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (15-4) finished out THE Spring Games with a 3-2 victory over St. Thomas Aquinas (N.Y.) (2-8) and a 4-1 win over Thomas More (Ky.) (5-15) on Friday. The Golden Bears finished with a 10-2 record over the weeklong schedule of games in Florida. 

This is the most games Concordia-St. Paul has won playing in a spring tournament in Florida since 2012 when they picked up 11 wins at THE Spring Games that season. CSP has a 38-11-1 record in the last five times the team has competed at THE Spring Games. 

Freshman Alexis Monty led the Golden Bears with five hits and three RBIs on the day. Junior Sydney Pelzer tallied three hits with two doubles and an RBI. CSP pitchers Emmy Bowne and Erica McCullough picked up victories throwing seven strikeouts and giving up three earned runs as a duo.

The Golden Bears are off until next weekend on March 15-17 at the Teri Mathis-Zenner MIAA/NSIC Crossover Tournament. The Golden Bears will be playing Missouri Southern, Nebraska Kearney and Pittsburg State at the tournament. Games will take place in Joplin, Missouri and Pittsburg, Kansas. 

CSP vs St. Thomas Aquinas

Despite only having six hits in the game, the Golden Bears made the most of them to get their three runs. CSP received RBI singles from Monty in the first inning, senior Annalise Scamehorn in the fifth inning and junior Danni Sharum in the sixth inning. 

The Golden Bears took a 2-1 lead in the fifth inning, but the Spartans responded by scoring on a bunt that turned into an RBI single to tie the game. Concordia scored in the sixth inning to take a 3-2 lead, however, the Spartans didn't go away easily.

St. Thomas Aquinas rallied in the seventh inning getting the bases loaded with two singles and reaching on an error with only one out. On a 3-1 count, Spartan batter Ariana Coira hit a foul ball to Monty at third base which was caught for the out. The next Spartan batter grounded out to Pelzer at shortstop which ended the game. 

Pelzer hit the only double of the game for the Golden Bears. St. Thomas Aquinas outhit Concordia-St. Paul 9-6. Both teams had one error each. The Spartans left seven runners on base compared to four for CSP. 

Bowne improved her record to 6-2 on the season. The freshman pitched all seven innings throwing one strikeout and walking one batter in 94 pitches. 

CSP vs Thomas More

The Golden Bears began scoring in the second inning which started with Pelzer's second double of the day. After Scamehorn reached on a throwing error, Pelzer moved to third base. She was thrown out at home after junior Rachel Novak hit into a fielder's choice to the pitcher. 

This brought Monty up to the plate for the second time of the day and she made the most of the opportunity hitting a 2RBI single to give CSP a 2-0 lead. In the fourth inning, Thomas More hit an RBI single to cut the lead to one run. 

Pelzer hit an RBI single to bring Clara Heislen home for the score after the senior singled to start the fifth inning. Scamehorn then hit a ball to the shortstop and reached on another throwing error, which brought Pelzer in for the fourth run of the game. CSP got the last six batters out to finish the game. 

McCullough improved her record to 9-1 on the season which ties her win total from last season. She threw six strikeouts pitching all seven innings. The junior gave up five hits and threw 96 pitches in the contest.

Monty went 4-4 at the plate with one double and two RBIs. Sharum hit a double in the game as well. Pelzer finished with two hits and an RBI. 

The Golden Bears outhit the Saints 10-5 and Thomas More had two errors. CSP had no errors, but left seven runners on base compared to only three for Thomas More. The Golden Bears struck out twice in the game. The Saints didn't have a hit greater than a single.