MINOT, N.D. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team's (32-8, 14-2 NSIC) 14-game winning streak ended on Saturday after the Golden Bears were swept by Minot State (17-11, 12-4 NSIC). CSP's streak ended as the second longest in program history behind a 15-game win streak in 2010. 

The Beavers needed eight innings to defeat Concordia in game one. With the score tied 1-1 in the bottom of the eighth, Minot State's Anna LaCount hit a walk-off sacrifice fly to get the victory. This was the first loss for the Golden Bears since March 17 against Pittsburg State. 

Concordia-St. Paul was outhit 9-8 in the second game and committed one more error than the Beavers to lose, 7-5. Minot scored four runs in the first inning before CSP got on the board with three in the fourth. The Golden Bears scored two runs in the final inning but were unable to complete the comeback. 

Freshman Alexis Monty led the Golden Bears tallying three hits on the day with two doubles and an RBI. Junior Rachel Novak hit two doubles with an RBI. Senior Clara Heislen hit a double and a triple for her two hits of the day. The Golden Bears were only walked once on the day. 

Junior pitcher Erica McCullough picked up her third loss of the season in game one. She pitched 7.2 innings with a 1.83 ERA and threw five strikeouts. Freshman Makayla Wigern took her first loss of the season with a 5.83 ERA and one strikeout. 

The Golden Bears fall to second place in the NSIC standings behind Augustana (30-13, 15-1 NSIC). The Vikings swept Bemidji State on Saturday to move their win streak to 12 games. 

Concordia is back in action tomorrow against UMary (7-29, 0-14 NSIC). First pitches for the doubleheader are scheduled for 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. in Bismarck, North Dakota. 

Game One

After three scoreless innings, the Golden Bears struck first in the fourth inning. Senior Alexus Houston hit a double to left center field to get on base and then stole third to get in scoring position. Junior Sydney Pelzer hit an RBI single to bring Houston home for the first run of the game. 

Minot State responded with a solo home run by Gabi Dawyduk in the bottom of the fourth inning. The Beavers and Golden Bears remained scoreless until the bottom of the eighth when LaCount hit a one-out sacrifice fly, giving Minot State the 2-1 victory. 

The Golden Bears left seven runners on base in the contest. Concordia-St. Paul had five runners in scoring position in the contest that were unable to be brought home. CSP's best opportunity to score late came in the seventh inning with runners on second and third with two outs, but the team was unable to bring the runners home. 

Monty finished with two hits including a double. Heislen tallied a triple in the opening inning. Pelzer put up one hit and the lone RBI of the game. CSP outhit Minot State 9-6 in the game, but were not walked once. 

McCullough pitched 7.2 innings with five strikeouts. She gave up six hits, two walks and two earned runs. Minot State's Reegan Floyd picked up her sixth win of the season. She threw one strikeout on the day in 90 pitches. 

Game Two

Minot State scored early with a run in both the first and second inning and two runs in the third inning to lead 4-0. CSP finally found home in the fourth inning. After Houston singled and Pelzer walked, junior Avery Johnson singled to shortstop with two outs bringing in the first run for Concordia. 

On the next at-bat, Novak doubled to center field bringing Pelzer home for the score. Monty brought Johnson in after reaching on an error by Minot's Taylor Smith, cutting the lead to 4-3. 

The Beavers responded with a sacrifice fly in the fourth inning, extending the lead 5-3. The Beavers tacked on two more runs in the sixth inning. Four of Minot State's seven runs in the contest came on sacrifice flies. 

Concordia-St. Paul had one last chance in the seventh inning. Novak and Monty hit back-to-back doubles, cutting the lead to 7-4. After a flyout and a groundout, junior Danni Sharum singled bringing Monty home for the score. Houston fouled out in the final at-bat to seal the 7-5 Beaver win. 

Novak finished with two doubles and an RBI. Monty had one double with an RBI and scored once. Sharum and Johnson both tallied the other two RBIs for Concordia-St. Paul. The Golden Bears finished with eight hits on the day and the Beavers tallied seven hits. 

Wigern pitched 6.0 innings giving up nine hits, three walks and five earned runs. She tallied one strikeout on the day with 107 pitches and picked up her first loss of the season to be 3-1. Dawyduk improved her record to 6-5 with the Beavers giving up eight hits and throwing two strikeouts. 

The Golden Bears committed three errors and the Beavers had two errors. CSP left six runners on base compared to seven for Minot State. The Beavers finished the day scoring five out of their nine runs on sacrifice flies.