ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bear softball squad (30-6, 12-0 NSIC) has their first home doubleheader at Carlander Field scheduled for Wednesday against Minnesota State (32-8, 12-2 NSIC). The first pitches will be at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Concordia will then be on the road this weekend against Minot State (13-11, 8-4 NSIC). First pitch for that doubleheader is scheduled for 11 a.m. and 1 p.m. CSP will finish the trip against UMary (7-25, 0-10 NSIC) on Sunday at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m. 

LAST TIME OUT 

Concordia-St. Paul swept St. Cloud State (22-16, 5-7 NSIC) and Minnesota Duluth (25-12, 6-6 NSIC) this past weekend in doubleheaders at Reynolds Field on the Northwestern-St. Paul campus. CSP defeated the Huskies 3-1 in the first game after an RBI double from junior Avery Johnson and a 2RBI double from freshman Alexis Monty. Junior pitcher Erica McCullough pitched all seven innings throwing seven strikeouts while giving up five hits. 

The Golden Bears needed 10 innings to defeat the Huskies in game two, 12-11. Junior Annalise Scamehorn went 4-6 hitting and smacked the walk-off RBI single for CSP in the 10th inning. Concordia-St. Paul hit eight doubles as a team in the victory. 

In game one against Minnesota Duluth, the Golden Bears used an inside-the-park home run from Johnson to score all three of their runs in the fourth inning. Freshman Makayla Wigern picked up her second win of the season pitching six innings and only allowing three hits. McCullough recorded a save by throwing three strikeouts in the seventh inning sealing the 3-2 victory.

The Golden Bears hit three straight home runs in the game two scoring five runs in the third inning. Senior Clara Heislen hit a 3RBI homer while catcher Danni Sharum and senior Alexus Houston hit solo homers to follow. McCullough pitched seven innings allowing nine hits in the 6-5 win. 

Heislen led the Golden Bears in hitting on the weekend slashing .417/.563/.667 on the weekend with four RBIs. Johnson led the team with six RBIs and Scamehorn tallied a team-high six hits. Junior Sydney Pelzer scored five runs to lead the team in that category.

McCullough threw 381 total pitches on the weekend with a 4.82 ERA. She pitched 20.1 innings with 14 total strikeouts. After going 3-0 she pushed her record to 18-2 on the season. 

SEASON LEADERS

Monty leads the NSIC with a .528 batting average on the season which is second in the nation. Her .699 slugging percentage is the second-best in the NSIC and her .583 on-base percentage is first in the conference. The freshman had her 30-game hitting streak come to an end this past weekend, which was the longest hitting streak in program history. 

Heislen bumped her batting average up to .368 on the season which is 17th in the NSIC. She has the third-best on-base percentage in the conference at .481. Eight of nine Golden Bear batters have a batting average of .300 or above. 

Scamehorn and Monty are tied for the team lead in doubles with 14 which is tied for the third most in the NSIC. Sharum and Houston each have four home runs to lead the team and are tied for 12th in the conference.

McCullough leads the Golden Bears with a 3.00 ERA which is 15th in the conference. She is tied for fourth in school history with four saves this season and tied for seventh in program history with 18 wins. She leads the conference in wins and with the third-most innings pitched. 

The Golden Bears lead the NSIC with a .355 batting average as a team. This is the 10th-best team batting average in the nation. CSP is seventh in ERA in the NSIC at 3.38. 

MINNESOTA STATE - Wednesday, April 10 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.

Series History: Minnesota State 40, Concordia-St. Paul 18

Concordia is 3-7 in the last 10 matchups with Minnesota State after splitting the series last season. The Golden Bears won six straight against the Mavericks from 2004-06. CSP is 5-9 all-time at home against Minnesota State. 

The Mavericks have won 12 straight games after being swept in their opening series of NSIC play against MSU Moorhead. The Mavericks swept Sioux Falls, Bemidji State and Minnesota Crookston this past week. 

Minnesota State has three of the top 10 batters in the NSIC. Freshman Courtney Kessler has emerged onto the scene for Minnesota State this season with a .402 batting average and hitting a team-high 11 doubles. She is fifth in batting average in the conference. 

Junior Marin Carter is seventh in the NSIC with a .395 batting average and the best on-base percentage on the team at .458. Senior Ellie Tallman is 10th in the conference hitting .386. Sophomore Gianna Lara has the most home runs on the team with five. 

Minnesota State has two top-five conference pitchers in Maddie Oetzmann and McKayla Armbruster. Oetzmann is second in the NSIC with a 1.22 ERA and has thrown 70 strikeouts this season. Armbuster is fourth in the conference with a 1.75 ERA and has thrown the third most strikeouts in the conference with 111. 

Minnesota State has the fourth-best batting average as a team in the NSIC at .329. The Mavericks lead the conference in pitching with a 1.89 ERA which is also 16th in the nation.

Head coach Lori Meyer is in her 39th season coaching at Minnesota State. She led the Mavericks to a National Championship in 2017. She has a 1,398-741-3 record coming into this week's doubleheader with Concordia. 

MINOT STATE - Saturday, April 13 at 11 a.m. and 1 p.m.

Series History: Minot State 13, Concordia-St. Paul 8

The Golden Bears have won five out of the last six games against the Beavers, with a series split last season. The Beavers won nine straight games from 2015-18 against Concordia. The Golden Bears are 2-6 all-time on the road in Minot. 

The Beavers enter this week after going 2-2 with a doubleheader sweep against UMary and a pair of losses to Augustana. Minot State is on the road this week against Northern State before hosting the Golden Bears at the South Hill Softball Complex.

Senior Brooklyn Morrison has a .356 batting average with a .576 slugging percentage for Minot State. Sophomore Anna LaCount has a .405 batting average playing and starting in 16 games for the Beavers this season. Junior Abbey Kelly is hitting .339 this season.

Minot State is led on the mound by senior Gaby Dawyduk with a 2.27 ERA in 11 appearances. She has the ninth-best ERA in the NSIC. Junior Reegan Floyd has the 11th-best conference ERA at 2.44. Floyd leads the team with 32 strikeouts. 

Minot State has the eight-best team batting average at .279. They have the third-least RBIs in the conference. The Beavers have the fifth-best ERA in the NSIC at 2.93.

Sal Rodriguez is in his first season as the head coach of the Beavers. He served as the spring interim coach for two weeks last season. He was previously a softball assistant coach at Bishop Ryan High School and has experience as a public address announcer with the Beavers as well. 

UMary - Sunday, April 14 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.

Series History: Concordia-St. Paul 24, UMary 15

The Golden Bears enter the series on an 11-game win streak dating back to 2017. Before then, the Marauders had won nine straight from 2014-17. Concordia is 8-4 all-time on the road against UMary.

The Marauders enter this week on a 14-game losing streak. UMary was swept by Minot State and Augustana this past weekend. They host MSU Moorhead on Wednesday and Winona State on Saturday before facing CSP on Sunday. 

A trio of sophomores lead the Marauders in hitting. Janelle Bergmann has the best batting average at .333 and has hit a team-high 12 RBIs. Francesca Villaneda has a .306 batting average and Emily Schommer is hitting .298 with a team-high two home runs along with 11 RBIs. 

Redshirt freshman Arria Johnson leads UMary with a 5.37 ERA in 15 appearances. She's thrown a team-high 21 strikeouts. Junior Hannah Chambers has a 5.75 ERA this season in a team-high 52.1 innings pitched. 

The Marauders are last in the NSIC in both hitting and pitching as a team. UMary has a .238 batting average and a 6.18 ERA. The Marauders are led by head coach Amy Schmeckpeper.