ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bear softball team (25-28, 17-11 NSIC) wrapped up regular season play on Sunday with a split against Wayne State (Neb.) (30-23, 14-13 NSIC). With the win in game one, the Golden Bears clinched the No. 6 seed in the NSIC Tournament to avoid a play-in game in the 10-team field. 

Concordia-St. Paul dominated the Wildcats, 8-1, in game one before falling, 7-6, in a wild game two. Junior Riley Rosenthal led the team batting 4-8 with a two-run homer in game one. Senior Sydney Pelzer was 3-7 with a team-high four RBIs, all coming in game one. 

Senior Erica McCullough got the game-one victory on the mound pitching six innings. She only allowed four hits and one earned run. The senior had five strikeouts and did not walk a batter. McCullough went 2-0 in starts this weekend with a 0.54 ERA in a team-high 13 innings pitched. 

Freshman Katie Klotz matched Rosenthal's batting average going 3-6 with an RBI double in game two. She also added two RBIs on the day. Alexis Monty was 3-7 with a double and two RBIs. Bryleigh Dana added two hits and a double. Lily Burke had one hit and tied for the team-high in runs scored with three as she also walked twice. 

Emmy Bowne pitched five innings appearing in both games. She allowed two earned runs on three hits while throwing four strikeouts. Bowne took the loss in a tightly contested game two. 

The Golden Bears finish the season with an 11-1 home record at Carlander Field. This ties for the fewest losses at home in a season with the 2001, 2019 and 2022 seasons. CSP had more home wins this season than any one of those three seasons. The 11 home wins mark the third-most in a single season in program history. 

Concordia-St. Paul will head to Sioux Falls next weekend to compete in the NSIC Tournament on Thursday, May 1 at 5:30 p.m. The Golden Bears will face Winona State (40-13, 21-7 NSIC) at Augustana's Bowden Field.

Game One
During the second time through the lineup in the third inning, Monty led off the Golden Bears with a single. After Burke walked, they each stole a base. This set up Pelzer for a 2RBI single to left field scoring the first two runs of the game. 

WSC answered with an Emilee Marth leadoff solo homer in the fourth inning, cutting the lead to 2-1. The Golden Bears used four singles in the fifth inning by Ella Arendt, Burke, Rosenthal and Pelzer to score two more runs. Pelzer knocked in the two runs with a single to shallow left-center field. 

Concordia rallied to score four runs with two outs in the sixth inning. After a Klotz single, CSP bunted twice to get pinch runner Ashlyn Peterson to third base. Burke walked and Monty singled up the middle to score two more runs and lead 6-1. 

On the next at-bat, Rosenthal hit a home run to center field that extended the lead to 8-1. That marked the junior's fourth homer of the season, doubling her total from last year. 

McCullough took the win for her sixth of the season. She only allowed four hits and the one earned run in the fourth inning. She threw five strikeouts, which led CSP on the day, and didn't walk any batters. Bowne entered in relief in the seventh inning, getting the final three outs on three batters. 

Pelzer led the team batting 2-3 with four RBIs. She bumped her total RBIs to 61, the most in a single season in program history. Monty and Rosenthal were both 2-4 with two RBIs. Dana tallied a double in the second inning. 

CSP outhit Wayne State 10-4 and neither team committed an error. The Wildcats left three runners on base while the Golden Bears left four. 

Game Two
Wayne State scored a run in the first, a run in the second and two runs in the third to take an early 4-0 advantage. At that point, the Wildcats were outhitting Concordia 8-1 through the first three innings. 

The Golden Bears did not go away getting on the board in the fourth inning. Rachel Novak and Emily Knoblauch singled to start the inning. Klotz brought in a run with a double to right center and no outs. Knoblauch then scored on a wild pitch and Ava Blake hit a sacrifice fly, cutting the lead to 4-3. 

The Wildcats responded with a solo home run by Jordyn Rochholz in the fifth inning, extending the lead to two runs. Bowne ended the inning with a strikeout, marking the third batter she struck out of eight she faced to start her second-game appearance.

Monty led off the fifth inning with a double to center and Rosenthal put runners on first and third with a bunt single. A Pelzer single then loaded the bases and Monty scored on a passed ball on the next play. 

Knoblauch sacrificed herself with a bunt to bring in a run and tie the game at 5-5. Klotz gave CSP its first and only lead of the game with an RBI single. 

Wayne State rallied with the first two batters getting out in the sixth inning. A single, walk and Taylor Coleman's 2RBI double gave the Wildcats the lead back at 7-6. The final six outs for Wayne State came on the last seven CSP batters to end the game. 

Bowne took the loss on the mound pitching the last four innings in relief. She allowed two earned runs on three hits and two walks. Bowne also tallied four total strikeouts. 

Tatum Dunlavy started the game pitching the first three innings. She allowed four total runs with two earned on eight hits in three innings pitched. She tallied a strikeout and got out of a bases-loaded situation in the third inning. 

Rosenthal and Klotz tallied two hits each to lead CSP. Klotz had a team-high two RBIs. Monty and Klotz's doubles were the only extra-base hits for the Golden Bears. 

Wayne State outhit Concordia-St. Paul 11-9. The Golden Bears committed three errors while the Wildcats committed none. WSC left nine runners on base compared to five for CSP. Both teams had five strikeouts.