ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bear softball squad (34-8, 16-2 NSIC) is in action for the final home weekend of the season against Southwest Minnesota State (17-26, 8-12 NSIC) and Augustana (34-13, 19-1 NSIC). CSP plays the Mustangs at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Saturday for Senior Day then faces the Vikings at noon and 2 p.m. on Sunday at Carlander Field.

LAST TIME OUT 

Concordia-St. Paul went 4-2 last week with sweeps against Minnesota State and UMary, but was swept by Minot State. CSP started with a midweek sweep against Minnesota State, 5-4 and 10-6. 

Senior Clara Heislen tallied four hits including two doubles and a home run adding four RBIs. Junior Danni Sharum put up four hits with five RBIs and a three-run homer. The Golden Bears scored 12 out of their 15 runs in the doubleheader with two outs. 

CSP's 14-game winning streak ended against Minot State on Saturday. The Beavers hit a walk-off sacrifice fly in the eighth inning of game one to get a 2-1 win. Minot State scored four of its seven runs in the second game via sacrifice flies to beat CSP, 7-5. 

Concordia rebounded by sweeping UMary on Sunday by scores of 8-0 and 4-1. Freshman Alexis Monty finished 6-for-6 batting with two doubles and a home run. Senior Alexus Houston tallied three hits with a home run and two RBIs. Junior pitcher Erica McCullough pitched all 12 innings on the day giving up only one earned run. 

SEASON LEADERS

Monty is second in the nation with a .535 batting average which is behind the national leader, Lauren Harris of McKendree, with a .538 batting average. She has the fourth-best on-base percentage in the nation at .589, the third-most hits with 77 and the seventh-most doubles with 19. She's the second toughest batter to strike out in the nation as she's only struck out twice this season.

The Golden Bears have seven batters hitting .300 or better. Sharum is hitting .371 this season, which is tied for 14th in the conference. Heislen is 18th in the NSIC hitting .365 and Annalise Scamehorn is 20th hitting .362. 

Heislen's .471 on-base percentage is sixth in the NSIC and Scamehorn's 14 doubles is eighth in the NSIC. Houston and Sharum lead the Golden Bears with five home runs each, which is tied for 11th in the conference. Sharum's 39 RBIs is fifth in the conference. 

Monty is in position to break many single-season program records. She currently has the highest batting average and on-base percentage in a season. The freshman has the third most runs scored with 52, five behind the leading 57 scored by Carlie Hart in 2019. Her 77 hits are fifth in a season for CSP. 19 doubles is second in school history behind Amanda Yurek with 20 in 2006. 

McCullough leads CSP with a 2.78 ERA and a 21-3 record this season. She's pitched 18 complete games which is tied for the most in the NSIC and is fifth in the nation. Her 21 victories leads the conference and is third in the nation. McCullough has four saves on the season, which is second in the NSIC and 12th in the country. 

The junior has the fourth most wins in a season in program history. Kristen Schmidt has the top three spots in school history with 22 wins in 2004 and 27 wins in both 2005 and 2006. McCullough has the second-most saves in school history, behind three pitchers with five saves in first place. 

The Golden Bears are hitting an NSIC-best .352 batting average, which is slightly better than Augustana's .351 average. Concordia has the 10th-best team batting average in the nation and currently has the best batting average in a season in program history.  

IN THE NSIC STANDINGS

Augustana leads the NSIC with a 19-1 conference record after winning 16 straight games. The Golden Bears are one game behind in second place with a 16-2 NSIC record. Minnesota State, Minot State and Winona State all have five losses to tie for third place. 

SOUTHWEST MINNESOTA STATE - Saturday, April 20 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.

Series History: Southwest Minnesota State 31, Concordia-St. Paul 27

Concordia-St. Paul has played an even split with the Mustangs in each of the past three seasons. The Golden Bears are 9-15 all-time at home against Southwest Minnesota State. The series is at an even 5-5 in the last 10 matchups. 

The Mustangs were swept by Northern State and MSU Moorhead this past weekend, losing three of the four games by one run. Southwest Minnesota State has a midweek matchup against Sioux Falls on Wednesday before facing CSP on Saturday. 

Senior Jillian Noel and junior Abby Russell lead the Mustangs hitting .344. They are the only players for SMSU that are hitting above .300 this season. Noel leads the team with nine doubles, two home runs and 33 RBIs. Russell has four triples on the season. 

On the mound, junior Karlie Miller has a 3.40 ERA on the season in 146 innings pitched. She's thrown 105 strikeouts this season, which is the fifth most in the NSIC. Miller has pitched 16 complete games with three saves. 

Junior pitcher Morgyn Otte has a 3.86 ERA in 116 innings pitched. She's thrown 60 strikeouts this season giving up an opposing .298 batting average.

Southwest Minnesota State is the 12th-best hitting team in the NSIC with a .256 batting average. The Mustangs only have five home runs as a team this season. SMSU is 10th in pitching with a 3.86 ERA as a team. 

Head coach Bailey Bouman is in her sixth season at the helm of the program. She has a 110-142 record entering this week with the Mustangs. 

AUGUSTANA - Sunday, April 21 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Series History: Augustana 33, Concordia-St. Paul 8

CSP went 2-1 against the Vikings last season, losing 8-7 in the NSIC tournament. Augustana won 19 straight games against Concordia from 2010-18. Concordia is 1-5 at home against the Vikings with the lone victory in 2022. The Golden Bears are 2-8 in the last 10 games against Augustana. 

The Vikings are on a 16-game winning streak with its last loss coming on March 23 against MSU Moorhead. Augustana has ranked wins against Central Oklahoma and Pittsburg State this season, both of which are currently in the top 10 in the NFCA Division II Coaches Poll. This week, the Vikings are playing Wayne State and Winona State before facing CSP on Sunday. 

Augustana has swept the NSIC Player of the Week race in three of the past four weeks. They are led by four-time NSIC Pitcher of the Week, Grace Glanzer. The senior right-handed pitcher won the Wilson/NFCA Pitcher of the Week award for the second time this season on Tuesday. 

Glanzer leads the NSIC with a 0.74 ERA in 132 innings pitched. She has the fourth-best ERA in the nation. Glanzer has the third-most wins in the NSIC with a 16-3 record this season. 

Senior Lexi Lander has a 2.41 ERA in 66.2 innings pitched for the Vikings. She's posted a 10-5 record this season while appearing in 20 games. Hailey Houston with a 3.07 ERA and Helen Krage with a 2.42 ERA are the other leaders in the bullpen. 

On the hitting side, the Vikings are led by freshman Desi Cuevas with a .439 batting average. That is the second-best mark in the NSIC behind Monty. Sophomore Ashton Dorman has the sixth-best batting average in the conference at .415. 

Senior Torri Chute has a team-best .739 slugging percentage, which is third in the conference. She's a two-time NSIC Player of the Week and is tied for the NSIC lead in home runs with 14 on the season. 

Kennedy Buckman is the reigning NSIC Player of the Week. The senior batted .455 with five home runs and 15 RBIs last week for the Vikings. She hit four home runs combined in their doubleheader against Minnesota Crookston on Sunday.

Augustana has seven starting batters hitting .300 or higher this season. As a team, the Vikings are hitting .351 for the second-best average in the NSIC and 15th in the nation. Augustana's 1.84 ERA leads the conference and is 17th in Division II. 

The Vikings are led by Gretta Melsted in her 18th season as head coach. Melsted has brought Augustana to 11 NCAA Tournament appearances and won the National Championship in 2019. She has a career record of 797-361 entering this week as the head coach of the Vikings.