ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bears (35-11, 17-5 NSIC) were outhit 17-8 on Sunday as Augustana (40-13, 25-1 NSIC) swept CSP, 3-0 and 7-2, in the home doubleheader finale at Carlander Field. CSP's four hits in each contest were the second-lowest of the season in a game, and its eight total hits were the second-lowest in a doubleheader. 

Freshman pitcher Makayla Wigern started game one and pitched all seven innings. She pitched six scoreless innings, giving up the only three runs in the third inning of the game. Wigern tallied a season-high three strikeouts in the performance. 

Junior catcher Danni Sharum provided the lone batting highlight of the day with a two-run homer in the sixth inning of game two. Sharum now leads the Golden Bears in home runs on the season with six total. 

After the loss in game two against Southwest Minnesota State on Saturday, this is the first time the Golden Bears have lost three games in a row this season. CSP was held scoreless for 17 innings during this stretch, the season's longest scoreless stretch for the Golden Bears. 

With the sweep, Augustana clinched the regular season NSIC title as the Vikings only have a doubleheader vs. Minnesota State (37-13, 17-7 NSIC) left on the schedule next weekend. CSP remains in second place ahead of the Mavericks and Minot State (22-15, 17-7 NSIC), who are tied for third place. 

The Golden Bears have three road doubleheaders this week starting at Winona State (30-18, 14-8 NSIC) on Wednesday at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. CSP will then travel to play Wayne State (8-38, 4-18 NSIC) and Sioux Falls (19-26, 10-14 NSIC) in the final weekend before NSIC Tournament play. 

Game One

The Vikings scored all three runs of the game in the third inning. It started with a single by Desi Cuevas and an RBI double by Torri Chute. Later in the inning, the Vikings scored on an RBI single by Ashton Dorman. 

The Golden Bears threatened in the bottom of the third inning after Annalise Scamehorn and Avery Johnson hit back-to-back singles. Alexis Monty had a chance to bring runs in with a hard hit into left field, but was caught by Cuevas with an excellent glove. 

Augustana left the bases loaded twice in the contest in the second and seventh inning. The Vikings loaded the bases with one out both times, but were stifled by the Concordia defense. Wigern threw a clutch strikeout in the seventh inning before a flyout to center field to strand the runners. 

CSP had one final chance in the seventh inning after back-to-back two-out singles by Sydney Pelzer and Scamehorn. CSP left the bases stranded after Augustana's Grace Glanzer struck out the final batter to end the game. 

The Golden Bears struggled with Glanzer all day as she threw seven strikeouts, which is the second most thrown against CSP this season. Glanzer even forced Monty's third strikeout of the season and her first since March 4 against Glenville State. Monty went 31 games without a strikeout.

Wigern pitched all seven innings, walking five batters while throwing a season-high of three strikeouts. She threw nine scoreless innings this weekend between game one against the Vikings and game two on Saturday against Southwest Minnesota State. 

CSP was outhit 7-4 in the contest and committed the only two errors of the game. Those errors contributed to loading the bases in the second and seventh inning, but didn't lead to any runs for Augustana. 

Game Two

The second contest started with a home run on the first pitch by Augustana's Andrea Cain. The game remained at 1-0 until the fifth inning when Stella Herber hit another solo shot to put the Vikings up 2-0. 

Augustana followed in the sixth inning with three home runs to lead 6-0, making it six runs scored on five homers. Each home run was hit by a different Viking batter. 

After Clara Heislen singled down the first base line, Sharum hit a rocket over the right field fence for a two-run homer. This ended up being CSP's only runs scored on the day. The Vikings added an insurance run in the seventh inning and Glanzer entered in relief to get the final three outs of the day.

Sharum finished with two hits while Monty and Heislen had the only other two for the Golden Bears. CSP was outhit 10-4 in the game and committed two errors while the Vikings didn't commit any.

Junior pitcher Erica McCullough took her fifth loss of the season after pitching all seven innings, giving up six earned runs and two walks. The left-handed pitcher threw two strikeouts in the game. Augustana's Lexi Lander picked up her 12th victory after throwing four strikeouts in six innings pitched.