ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul softball team starts the 2025 season this weekend at the Scheels Tournament hosted by Minnesota State. The Golden Bears face the Mavericks at 10 a.m. and then play Minnesota Duluth (3-1) at 12:30 p.m. on Friday, Feb. 7. 

CSP will then stay in Mankato on Saturday, Feb. 8 to play the Bulldogs at 10 a.m. and the Mavericks at 12:30 p.m. All games will be played in the Maverick All-Sports Dome. 

"It will be a good test because both Minnesota Duluth and Minnesota State are in the upper echelon of our conference year in and year out," said head coach Bob Bartel, last season's NSIC Coach of the Year. "It will be a good test to see where we are at early."

LAST SEASON
The Golden Bears finished with their most wins since 2006 last season. CSP finished 37-14 with a 19-7 NSIC record which included a 14-game win streak that was the second longest in school history. 

Concordia earned the No. 2 seed in the NSIC tournament. The Golden Bears lost five of their last seven games to finish the season, including a 5-2 loss in Minot State in the conference tournament. 

CSP returns 11 players from last year's team, including NSIC Preseason Player of the Year Alexis Monty. The Golden Bears also added 10 newcomers to the roster as well for this upcoming season.

The Golden Bears were second in the NSIC in batting average at .339 last season. CSP's team ERA of 3.64 ranked eighth in the conference. Concordia recorded 101 doubles, 12 triples and 29 home runs as a team. 

NONCONFERENCE SCHEDULE
The first four games this weekend against Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth will count as nonconference games. The games will not count toward NSIC play and are four of 26 games CSP has on its non-conference schedule. 

Concordia will head to Topeka, Kansas on Feb. 21 to compete against MIAA competition at the Washburn Invitational. The following week, CSP is in Florida for THE Spring Games highlighted by the opening matchup against No. 5 Wilmington (Del.).

"The first one that really sticks out to me just to gauge where we are is that Wilmington game," Bartel said. "They finished fifth in the country last year and we're looking forward to that test down in Florida."

Last year, the Golden Bears went 10-2 at THE Spring Games, marking the team's most wins playing in the tournament since 2012. Concordia has a 38-11-1 record the last five times they've competed in the tournament. This season, CSP will face teams from New York, New Hampshire, Delaware, Pennsylvania, Ohio, Michigan, Florida and Oregon at THE Spring Games. 

CSP wraps up nonconference play at the MIAA/NSIC Crossover March 14-16. The Golden Bears open with a game vs. Nebraska Kearney before doubleheaders vs. Missouri Southern and Pittsburg State (Kan.). 

NSIC AT A GLANCE
The Golden Bears were ranked No. 2 in the preseason NSIC coaches' poll. Concordia-St. Paul received 174 points in the poll and Monty was named the NSIC Preseason Player of the Year. This is CSP's highest preseason rating since 2006 and Monty is Concordia's first preseason player of the year since 2009. 

Augustana (S.D.), the reigning NSIC champions, took the top spot in the preseason poll for the sixth consecutive year. The Vikings went 50-15 last season with a 27-1 conference record. Augustana finished the season in Orlando, Florida at the NCAA Division II Softball Championships after winning the Central Regional tournament and defeating Rogers State in the NCAA Super Regionals. 

The Vikings received 14 first-place votes and amassed 196 points. Augustana's pitcher Grace Glanzer was named the NSIC Preseason Pitcher of the Year. Glanzer was an NFCA and D2CCA All-America First Team selection last season and went 28-5 in 36 appearances with a 0.64 ERA.

"Augustana is probably the clear-cut No. 1 and I would agree with that," Bartel said. "But I think anywhere from No. 2-8 could mix and match. It's nice to get recognized that people think we're pretty good, but we're gonna have to go out and prove it."

Minnesota State received 163 points in the preseason poll and a first-place vote to be picked No. 3 in the NSIC. The Mavericks finished fifth in the NSIC last season with a 39-16, 19-9 NSIC record. Minnesota Duluth was six points behind in fourth place after finishing third in the conference last season with a 41-15, 20-8 NSIC record. 

Winona State received 155 points to get picked in fifth after finishing sixth in the NSIC last season. Minot State was picked sixth, St. Cloud State was picked seventh and MSU Moorhead was picked eighth. 

MEET THE GOLDEN BEARS: PITCHERS AND CATCHERS
The full pitching staff from last season of Erica McCullough, Emmy Bowne and Makayla Wigern are returning this season. McCullough, an All-NSIC Second Team selection last season, picked up 24 wins which was the third-most in program history. She finished with a 3.30 ERA last season in 197 innings pitched. 

Bowne played in 18 games last season before suffering a season-ending injury. She recorded a 3.88 ERA in 92 innings pitched and posted a 10-4 record. Wigern stepped up to the mound following Bowne's injury, tallying a 4.55 ERA in nine appearances. 

McCullough and Bowne both return this season after suffering injuries last season. Bowne enters this season at full strength and McCullough is starting to get back into the groove as well.

CSP also adds a few new freshman pitchers into the mix, making it a much deeper group this season. Tatum Dunlavy out of Estherville, Iowa will be a prominent pitcher for the Golden Bears this season. Dunlavy was a three-time Class 3A All-State First-Team selection in her high school career. 

Hopkins native Abi Carter is another pitcher added to the rotation for CSP this season. Carter was a four-time varsity letter winner at Hopkins High School and helped lead her team to state tournament appearances in 2022 and 2023. 

At catcher, CSP returns senior Danni Sharum after her All-NSIC Second Team selection last season. Sharum suffered an injury this offseason, and may not see playing time for a bit but is expected to return this season. 

In Sharum's absence, sophomore Bryleigh Dana and freshman Katie Klotz will split time at catcher. Dana recorded 11 hits and nine RBIs last season, including scoring the game-winning run vs. St. Cloud State. Klotz comes to CSP from Farmington and was a 2024 Ms. Softball Finalist last season for the Tigers. 

MEET THE GOLDEN BEARS: OUTFIELD
There's a lot of opportunity for newcomers to make an impact in the outfield this season for CSP after Clara Heislen and Alexus Houston graduated. Avery Johnson returns but will miss the whole season due to injury. 

"We've got a mix of freshmen that we're thinking about putting in the outfield," Bartel said. "There's gonna be a rotation out there for at least the first few games. The freshmen have looked good in practice and we're gonna need them to contribute. I think they're ready to, but time will tell."

The freshmen in the mix are Ella Arendt, Ava Blake, Lily Burke, Emily Knoblauch, Haley Knoblauch and Ashlyn Peterson. Arendt recorded a .405 batting average as a four-year varsity letter winner for West De Pere High School in Wisconsin. Blake was also a four-year letter winner with a .432 batting average at Chaska High School. 

Burke was a First Team All-Conference selection at River Falls High School in Wisconsin with a .482 batting average. Emily Knoblauch had a .378 batting average and Haley Knoblauch had a .393 batting average as seniors at Tartan High School. Peterson was a four-year letter winner at Spring Lake Park High School with a .302 batting average as a senior. 

MEET THE GOLDEN BEARS: INFIELD
Despite an entirely new outfield, the CSP returns its entire infield from last season. Rachel Novak, Riley Rosenthal, Sydney Pelzer and Monty all return, a luxury the Golden Bears will try to capitalize on during the season. 

"As a coach, it's nice because we can work on some other things in practice other than trying to re-teach certain set defenses for the most part," Bartel said. "When we call a defense they know exactly what they should be doing. It's comforting to have all our infielders returning and I think that will also help our freshman outfielders."

Monty is the top returner in the infield for CSP this season after winning NSIC Freshman of the Year last season. She was named NFCA Third Team All-America after slashing .486/.536/669 last season to record the best batting average in a season in school history. Her success also earned her D2CCA All-Central Region First Team, All-NSIC First Team and All-NSIC Defensive Team accolades. 

"So far she's handled her success like she did last year," Bartel said. "She's handled it as a veteran. She didn't read too much into it and kept practicing hard. She's just trying to keep improving and helping her teammates improve. Her vocal leadership has increased as well in the past year. She's managing her success by doing what she always does."

Pelzer returns at shortstop after being selected to the NSIC All-Defensive Team last season. She had a .333 batting average last season with seven doubles, one triple and three home runs. 

Rosenthal returns to the Golden Bears at second base after starting all 51 games last season. She was the Week Five NSIC Player of the Week following a strong performance at THE Spring Games early in the year. The junior finished with a .319 batting average and tallied 40 RBIs for the second most on the team. 

Novak is back for her senior season after slashing .287/.331/.426 last season. She hit nine doubles, a triple and two home runs. Bartel believes that Novak could be one of CSP's most improved players coming into the season. 

"Rachel has really looked good in practice and I think she's playing with confidence right now," Bartel said. "I think she's gonna be a fixture in the middle of our lineup at first base."

Morgan Medlo returns for her senior season. Medlo is a two-time NSIC All-Academic Team of Excellence selection and she has a .194 batting average in 43 games played. 

Freshman Rylie Rasmussen is a newcomer for the Golden Bears in the infield. The Lakeville, Minn. native was previously at Bemidji State, but did not see action with the Beavers. She was a six-year letter winner in softball at Lakeville South High School. 

MEET THE GOLDEN BEARS: COACHING STAFF
Bartel enters his 21st season and has a 566-456-1 overall record with the Golden Bears. Last season, Bartel picked up his first career NSIC Coach of the Year award after leading CSP to his highest conference finish since 2005. 

Tom Mauer, Whitney Johnson, Rick Pickett and Craig Morris all return as assistant coaches. Joey Scanlan was also added to the assistant coaching staff this year.