ST. CLOUD, Minn. - The Golden Bear softball team (17-22, 9-5 NSIC) recorded its first NSIC split in a 7-5 win and 2-0 loss against Minnesota Duluth (26-12, 6-4 NSIC). Senior Rachel Novak hit the go-ahead RBI single in the eighth inning of game one for the Golden Bears. 

Ava Blake led CSP on the day batting 5-7 with a double. She slashed .714/.714/.857. Lily Burke batted 2-4 with a triple and scored twice. Sydney Pelzer tallied three hits and a team-high two RBIs. 

Bryleigh Dana smacked two hits, including a double to set up the go-ahead run in the eighth inning. Novak finished with two hits and an RBI.

Freshman Tatum Dunlavy picked up the win in game one pitching 4.0 innings with a 1.75 ERA. She allowed one earned run on four hits with three strikeouts. Erica McCullough pitched the first four innings of game one and threw a season-high eight strikeouts. 

The Golden Bears stay in St. Cloud to face St. Cloud State (28-11, 7-4 NSIC) at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m. on Sunday. Both games will take place at the Husky Dome. 

Game One
The Bulldogs scored in the second inning with a sacrifice fly to take an early 1-0 lead. Blake reached on an error, Ella Arendt walked and Burke singled to load the bases in the third. Pelzer then hit a two-out 2RBI single and Dana hit an RBI single to take a 3-1 lead. 

Duluth added a run in the bottom of the third via a CSP error. The game remained 3-2 until Burke hit a triple in the fifth. Sophomore Alexis Monty brought her in with a sacrifice fly, extending the advantage to 4-2. 

The Bulldogs started the bottom of the fifth inning with four straight singles, tying the game at 4-4. Dunlavy entered the game after the first two singles and got the last two outs of the inning with the bases loaded. 

After a scoreless sixth inning, CSP struck first in the seventh. Blake led off with a double down the third base line and Ashlyn Peterson stole third as a pinch runner. Arendt tallied an RBI on a fielder's choice to take a 5-4 lead. Concordia got runners on second and third later in the inning, but didn't capitalize after Arendt was caught stealing at home. 

Minnesota Duluth answered with two doubles in the seventh inning to tie the game and send it to extras. In the eighth inning, Dana doubled and Novak singled for the go-ahead run at 6-5. Katie Klotz singled to put runners on first and third. CSP got an insurance run with Novak taking home base after Haley Knoblauch sacrificed herself trying to steal second base. 

The Golden Bears got the last three outs of the game on two groundouts and a flyout. Dunlavy picked up the win to improve her record to 8-6. She allowed four hits and one earned run with three strikeouts. 

McCullough finished with eight strikeouts, the most by any CSP pitcher this season. She allowed three earned runs on four hits and three walks. 

Dana went 2-4 with an RBI and Pelzer had a hit with two RBIs. Burke was 2-2 with a single, triple and a walk. Blake was 2-4 with a double. Novak and Klotz each had a hit for CSP. 

Allison Luoma picked up the loss for the Bulldogs to fall to 9-4 on the season. She allowed four earned runs and had four strikeouts pitching all eight innings. She threw 120 pitches.

CSP outhit Duluth 9-8 while committing two errors compared to one for the Bulldogs. UMD left eight runners on base while CSP left three. The Golden Bears were walked twice while UMD was walked four times. Concordia tallied 11 total strikeouts. 

Game Two
The Bulldogs scored a run in the third inning via a single, steal and an RBI single by Serena Timmer. Nicole Schmitt scored the second run of the game in the sixth inning on a leadoff solo homer. 

CSP had runners reach second base twice in the game. Pelzer reached with two outs in the fourth and the Golden Bears had runners on first and second with two outs in the seventh before the final out of the game. 

Blake finished 3-3 on three singles. Pelzer was 2-3 and Novak was 1-3 each hitting singles. The Golden Bears finished the game without an extra-base hit. 

Emmy Bowne picked up the loss allowing five hits and two earned runs in six innings. She did not walk a single batter and had one strikeout. 

Alyssa Williams won the game for UMD pitching seven innings allowing six hits without a walk. She threw nine strikeouts in the contest and improved her record to 12-6. Schmitt tallied two hits for the Bulldogs including the solo homer. 

CSP outhit UMD 6-5 and neither team committed an error. There were no walks in the game. Concordia-St. Paul left five runners on base while Minnesota Duluth left three on base.