CLERMONT, Fla. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team (1-9) fell in its opening two games at THE Spring Games on Thursday. The Golden Bears lost to No. 6 Wilmington (4-2), 8-1, and Western Oregon (4-11), 9-7. 

Alexis Monty tallied the biggest hit for the Golden Bears on the day, a 2RBI triple against Western Oregon. Ava Blake and Emily Knoblauch each finished with two hits and an RBI. Rylie Rasmussen smacked a 2RBI single vs. the Wolves. 

Erica McCullough led CSP on the mound with a 1.40 ERA in 5.0 innings pitched. She threw four strikeouts against Wilmington, which ties Abi Carter for the most any CSP pitcher has thrown in a game this season. 

The Golden Bears have a few days off to regroup in Florida before facing Grand Valley State (Mich.) (2-6) on Sunday at 10:30 a.m. Concordia-St. Paul will then play California University of Pennsylvania (2-4) at 1 p.m. Both games are at Legends Way Field 5. 

CSP vs No. 6 Wilmington
The Wildcats struck first in the second inning scoring four runs all with two outs. Wilmington scored four runs on four singles, a walk and two Golden Bear errors. All four runs were unearned due to the errors. 

CSP threatened for the first time in the third inning with one-out walks by Blake and Sydney Pelzer, forcing a Wildcat timeout. The Golden Bears hit two deep flyouts on the next two at-bats. 

Wilmington's Delani Sheehan hit a solo homer in the fifth inning, which was the only run McCullough allowed in her five innings pitched. The Golden Bears got on the board in the bottom of the fifth inning. Lily Burke singled to start the inning and Pelzer brought her home on a fielder's choice.

The Wildcats added three runs in the seventh inning via two singles and two Golden Bears errors. Wilmington outhit Concordia 9-3 and the Golden Bears had more errors at 5-2. CSP left nine runners on base while the Wildcats left six runners on base. 

Blake, Burke and Bryleigh Dana were the only Golden Bears to record a hit. McCullough pitched five innings with a season-high four strikeouts. She only allowed one walk. Carter pitched the last two innings allowing one earned run. 

CSP vs Western Oregon
Monty walked to start the game and scored on a wild pitch, giving CSP a 1-0 advantage in the first inning. The Golden Bears came alive in the second inning, scoring four runs on two outs. After Carter and Makayla Wigern walked, Knoblauch brought in a run with a single. 

Knoblauch's single was followed in the next at-bat by a 2RBI Monty triple, bringing the score to 4-0. Blake singled in the next at-bat to right field, bringing Monty home for the 5-0 lead. 

The lead didn't last long as the Wolves answered with five runs in the bottom of the second inning. Western Oregon scored five runs via a double and three singles. The Golden Bears also aided WOU with three errors. Only two of the runs in the inning were earned. 

With the bases loaded in the fourth inning, Western Oregon's Kate Ronning hit the go-ahead sacrifice fly into right field for the 6-5 lead. The Wildcats used two walks and a 2RBI single, extending the advantage to 9-5. 

The Golden Bears added two runs in the fifth inning. Katie Klotz and Wigern singled. Rasmussen hit a two-out 2RBI single, cutting the lead to 9-7. That would be the final hit for the Golden Bears. 

Emmy Bowne picked up the loss, pitching 5.2 innings and allowing three earned runs. She threw two strikeouts and walked one batter.

Abby Stansbury picked up the win for the Wolves. She pitched 6.0 innings with six strikeouts. She allowed seven hits, four earned runs and a walk. Lexi Carlos led Western Oregon with 2 hits and 2 RBIs. 

Both teams tallied seven hits and left five runners on base. Concordia-St. Paul had five errors while Western Oregon had one.