ROSEVILLE, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (30-6, 12-0 NSIC) tallied four home runs in 3-2 and 6-5 doubleheader wins over Minnesota Duluth (25-12, 6-6 NSIC). The Golden Bears picked up their 12th consecutive conference victory, the most since 2010 when the team won 15 in a row. 

Senior Clara Heislen led Concordia with two hits and four RBIs in game two. The center fielder hit a three-run homer starting the scoring in the second game. Junior Avery Johnson hit a three-run inside-the-park home run for the Golden Bears in game one. 

After Heislen hit her home run, junior Danni Sharum and senior Alexus Houston followed with solo home runs of their own, making it three straight. The Golden Bears tallied seven total hits and the Bulldogs had four errors on the day. Eight of Concordia's nine runs were unearned,

Freshman Makayla Wigern started game one and picked up her second victory of the season after pitching six full innings. She gave up three hits and two earned runs. 

Junior Erica McCullough picked up the save in game one and her 18th victory of the season in game two. McCullough pitched eight innings giving up 10 hits and four earned runs with four strikeouts. Her 18th victory tied her for seventh in a season in program history. 

The Golden Bears surpassed the 10-game-winning streak in 2022 and an 11-game-winning streak in 2019. CSP went 14 games without a loss in 2022, but tied 0-0 in the 11th game against West Virginia Wesleyan that season.

Concordia-St. Paul remains in first place in the NSIC standings after snapping a six-game losing streak to Minnesota Duluth. Augustana (28-13, 13-1 NSIC) remains one game behind after sweeping Minot State on Saturday. 

CSP is back in action on Wednesday, April 10th against Minnesota State for the first home doubleheader of the season. First pitches are scheduled for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. at Carlander Field. 

Game One

The Golden Bears didn't record a hit until Johnson's inside-the-park home run in the fourth inning. Sharum reached on an error to start the fourth inning. Junior Sydney Pelzer and senior Annalise Scamehorn each reached on a fielder's choice, putting runners on first and second. 

With a 3-2 count and two outs, Johnson chopped a hit up the middle which bounced hard out of Bulldog shortstop Kiana Bender's glove. Centerfielder Kat Burkhardt couldn't get a good read off the tip, ensuing chaos as the ball went by her. Johnson's speed brought her all the way home to give CSP a 3-0 lead. 

Minnesota Duluth responded in the sixth inning with a two-run homer by Julia Gronholz. Wigern got out of the inning which set up McCullough to finish the job in the seventh inning. 

McCullough threw a strikeout to start the seventh, but then gave up two walks and a single, loading the bases. With a 3-2 count on Duluth's Morgan McMillan, McCullough struck her out swinging. The junior lefty then struck out Burkhardt to seal the victory. 

CSP was outhit 4-2 in the contest with Johnson and Pelzer tallying the only hits of the game. Freshman Alexis Monty's hitting streak ended at 30 games, which is the longest in program history. Carlie Hart had the previous longest with a hit in 21 straight games in 2018. 

The Golden Bears were walked five times in the contest. Pelzer reached in all three of her appearances at the plate with two walks and a hit. 

Wigern pitched six innings earning the victory giving up three hits and two earned runs. She walked three batters in the game throwing 89 pitches. She didn't record a strikeout. 

McCullough picked up her fourth save of the season, which tied her for fourth in a single season in school history. Five saves is the most in a season in Golden Bear history. She threw 33 pitches in the game. 

Game Two

After not recording a hit in the first two innings, the Golden Bears exploded in the third inning. Junior Rachel Novak reached on a throwing error and Monty walked to get runners on base. Heislen recorded the first hit of the game smacking a three-run homer to left field. 

It didn't stop there, Sharum followed with a home run to almost the exact same spot over the fence. After a pitching change, Houston homered to center field, giving Concordia-St. Paul a 5-0 lead. 

Duluth scored a run in the top of the fourth, but CSP responded by loading the bases in the bottom of the inning. Johnson walked to start the inning and Novak reached once again on an error. Monty singled a bunt to load the bases with no outs. 

Heislen took a pitch to the helmet, bringing in the sixth run. The Golden Bears left the bases loaded after hitting twice to Duluth third basemen Khendral Johnson, who threw the runners at third out at home. CSP flew out to leave the bases loaded in the inning. 

After two scoreless innings, the Bulldogs attempted to rally in the top of the seventh. Minnesota Duluth started the inning with four straight singles, cutting the lead to 6-3. The Bulldogs cut the lead to 6-5 after a pair of sacrifice flies. The last batter popped out to shortstop with nobody on base, ending the game. 

McCullough pitched all seven innings giving up four earned runs and nine hits. She threw one strikeout and gave up two walks. The junior threw 114 total pitches in the game which pushed her weekend total to 381 pitches. 

Heislen led the hitting efforts with two hits and four RBIs. Sharum, Houston and Monty recorded the other three hits. Houston and Sharum each had an RBI and Monty scored once. Novak scored twice herself. 

The Golden Bears were outhit for the second time of the day 9-5. Minnesota Duluth had three errors and Concordia had one. Each team left six runners on base.