ST. PAUL, Minn. - Clara Heislen hit 4-6 with four RBIs, two doubles and a home run leading the Concordia-St. Paul softball team (32-6, 14-0 NSIC) to a doubleheader sweep against Minnesota State (32-10, 12-4 NSIC). The Golden Bears defeated the Mavericks 5-4 and 10-6 for their first home victories of the season at Carlander Field. 

12 out of CSP's 15 runs on the day came with two outs on the board. Concordia-St. Paul has now won 14 straight games to start conference play, extending its longest conference opening win streak in program history. 

Junior catcher Danni Sharum had a great day with four hits and a team-high five RBIs. She hit a three-run homer and an RBI single in the first game. The catcher also followed with an RBI single in game two as well. Sharum had eight putouts in game one while Heislen had five putouts in game two. 

Riley Rosenthal, Alexis Monty and Annalise Scamehorn all tallied three hits on the day. Heislen and Rosenthal both scored four times. Junior left fielder Avery Johnson picked up two hits with a three RBI home run in game two. 

Junior Erica McCullough posted her 19th win of the season pitching 7.0 innings in game one with seven strikeouts. The left-handed pitcher is now tied for the fifth-most wins in a season in school history. Freshman Makayla Wigern picked up her third win of the season pitching 6.0 innings in game two before McCullough entered in the seventh inning to seal the victory.

The Golden Bears remain one game ahead of Augustana (30-13, 15-1 NSIC) in the conference standings. The Vikings swept Sioux Falls on Wednesday. Minnesota State is now in third place with four conference losses. 

Concordia-St. Paul is back in action up north this weekend for road doubleheaders against Minot State (15-11, 10-4 NSIC) and UMary (7-25, 0-10 NSIC). First pitch against the Beavers is scheduled for Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. and first pitch against the Marauders is scheduled for Sunday, April 14 at 12 p.m. 

Game One

Minnesota State's Cheyenne Behrends scored the first run of the day with a solo homer to left field in the second inning. Heislen responded in the third inning, hitting a two-out double down the left-field line to score the first run. On the next at-bat, Sharum hit a three-run homer to give Concordia a 4-1 lead. 

The Mavericks responded with a two-run home run in the next inning, cutting the CSP lead to one. In the fifth inning, Monty singled and Heislen walked setting up Sharum for another at-bat. The catcher hit a two-out single into center field giving Concordia a 5-3 advantage. 

Minnesota State added a run in the top of the sixth, but left the tying runner on base. The Mavericks were caught stealing earlier in the inning, which could've brought in that runner to tie the game had the inning played out differently. After a strikeout and flyout in the seventh, Sharum caught the Mavericks trying to steal second base once again, ending the game. 

Sharum led the team with two hits and four RBIs. Heislen tallied a hit with an RBI. Monty, Rosenthal, Johnson and Scamehorn all tallied hits for the Golden Bears. Minnesota State outhit Concordia 8-7 in the contest. 

McCullough improved her season record to 19-2 after pitching the entire game and throwing seven strikeouts. She only walked two batters in the game. Minnesota State's McKayla Armbruster took the loss giving up five earned runs after coming into the game with a season ERA of 1.74. 

Game Two

Concordia-St. Paul started the contest giving up a walk and two errors. After the Golden Bears got the first out in a pickle play, the next two batters were walked bringing in the first run. The Mavericks then hit a sacrifice fly to lead 2-0. With runners on second and third, the Golden Bears forced a flyout to end the inning. 

CSP exploded for its best inning of the day in the bottom of the first. Monty doubled followed by singles from Rosenthal and Heislen to get on the scoreboard. Junior shortstop Sydney Pelzer hit a sacrifice fly to tie the game. Scamehorn then hit an RBI single to take a 3-2 lead. 

In the next at-bat, Johnson hit her second home run of the season with a 3RBI shot to left field, taking a 6-2 lead. This forced a pitching change by the Mavericks as Maddie Oetzmann left after giving up six earned runs in 0.2 innings. Oetzmann came into the game with a 16-1 record and a 1.22 ERA which was second in the NSIC. 

Heislen added two more runs in the second inning with a home run after a single by Rosenthal. This was Heislen's third home run of the season. Minnesota State didn't go away though, scoring three runs in the fourth inning and a run in the fifth inning to cut the lead to 8-6. 

The Golden Bears added some insurance runs in the bottom of the sixth inning. After the first two batters grounded out, Rosenthal walked leading to a Heislen RBI double. Sharum brought Heislen home three pitches later, extending the lead to 10-6. 

After Wigern walked the first batter of the seventh inning, McCullough was brought in to finish the job. The junior got the next three batters out finishing the game with the lone strikeout forced by the Golden Bears in the contest. 

Wigern pitched 6.0 innings giving up four hits and four earned runs. She walked six batters on the day and improved her record to 3-0 on the year. 

Heislen finished 3-4 in the contest with three RBIs and scoring three times herself. Rosenthal went 2-3 scoring three times with an RBI. Sharum, Pelzer and Scamehorn each finished with two hits and an RBI. Monty tallied two hits and Johnson picked up three RBIs. 

The Golden Bears outhit the Mavericks 15-4. Concordia committed the only two errors of the contest. Minnesota State left five runners on base and CSP left two runners on base.