ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Concordia-St. Paul softball team is set to open its 2026 NSIC slate this weekend against UMary and Minot State. Due to inclement weather earlier in the week both doubleheaders have been moved to the Husky Dome in St. Cloud.
The Golden Bears open conference Saturday afternoon against the UMary Marauders on Saturday, March 21, with start times slated for 2 and 4 p.m. On Sunday, March 22 CSP will take on the Minot State Beavers with first pitch scheduled for 2 and 4 p.m.
Last Time Out
The Golden Bears played 10 games at the Space Coast Spring Games last week, going 5-5 over the course of the week.
Riley Rosenthal led the way at the plate, batting .468, with hits in eight of the 10 games including four extra base hits and five RBI. Nora Brandt batted .363 over the course of the week with nine RBI, a double and triple.
Lily Burke batted .318 across 21 trips to the plate, smacking her first home run of the season while driving in three runs and stealing four bases. Danni Sharum tallied 8 hits in 18 at bats hitting her second homer of the season and driving in four runs.
Tatum Dunlavy made five starts tossing 27.1 innings with a 2.30 ERA with 11 strikeouts and a 4-1 record in the circle. Abi Carter tossed 9.2 innings of relief, making three appearances with 0.72 ERA and seven strikeouts.
Season Leaders
Riley Rosenthal leads the Golden Bears in average so far this season, batting .377 with a .407 on-base percentage and a .481 slugging percentage, with four doubles, 12 RBI and seven stolen bases. Nora Brandt has a .328/.408/.433 slash line this season with three doubles and 13 RBI.
Alexis Monty has a .302/.463/.413 slash line with four doubles, eight RBI, while drawing a team leading 17 walks. Ava Blake has a .310 average this season, with three extra base hits and seven RBI. Danni Sharum leads the team with two home runs and 14 RBI while batting .271.
In the circle Tatum Dunlavy leads the way with a 3.57 ERA and a 5-5 record in 51.0 innings of work with 25 strikeouts. Emmy Bowne is 4-6 this season with a 3.90 ERA in 64.2 innings pitched with 37 punchouts.
Abi Carter has made nine relief appearances with a 2-1 record, 1.58 ERA and 13 strikeouts in 26.2 innings pitched.
UMary - Saturday, March 21, 2 p.m. /4 p.m. - Husky Dome, St. Cloud, Minn.
Series Record: CSP 28, UMary 15
The Golden Bears and Marauders have met 43 times with CSP winning 28 of those games dating back to 2002. Concordia is currently riding a 15 game winning streak against UMary after taking both games of a doubleheader last April.
The Marauders finished the 2025 season with a 9-44 overall record and a 2-26 record in conference play, finishing in last place in the NSIC. UMary was picked to finish 16th in the 2026 NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.
UMary is off to a 10-12 start this season after going 5-3 at the Space Coast Games last week. Closing out the games with a pair of wins over Michigan Dearborn and West Virginia Wesleyan.
Kaitlyn McLaughlin leads the Marauders at the plate with a .402 average and a .967 OPS, with six extra base hits and eight RBI. Jenel Mallaris is batting .368 with a .970 OPS, 10 RBI while drawing 13 walks.
Olivia Gomez is slashing .345/.400/.382 this season with one triple and five RBI. Genevieve Hastings is batting .333 with a .971 OPS while leading the team with a .556 slugging percentage, 10 doubles and 10 home runs.
In the circle the Marauders are led by Arria Johnson who has a 6-3 record with a 2.94 ERA, 1.31 WHIP and 25 strikeouts in 62.0 innings pitched. Jayleen Rojas is 4-1 with a 2.70 ERA, 1.90 WHIP and 22 punchouts in 33.2 innings pitched.
Amy Schmeckpeper is in her third season as the head coach at UMary, she is 29-94 in her time with the Marauders.
Minot State - Sunday, March 22, 2 p.m./4 p.m. - Husky Dome, St. Cloud, Minn.
Series Record: CSP 10, MiSU 16
In 26 matchups dating back to the 2014 season the Golden Bears are 10-16 all-time against the Beavers. CSP picked up two wins against Minot last season in a doubleheader sweep of the Beavers, behind a pair of walk-off home runs from Riley Rosenthal and Sydney Pelzer.
Last season the Beavers had a 27-25 overall record and a 15-13 conference record, to finish seventh in the NSIC. Making the NSIC Tournament and falling in the first round to MSU Moorhead. Ahead of the 2026 season Minot was picked to finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches Poll.
Minot State is off to a 15-9 start this season, after going 6-6 at the Space Coast Games last week in Viera, Florida. The Beavers wrapped up the games with a split on Tuesday, taking down Post University 5-1 in six innings, before falling to Wayne State (Mich.), 4-2 in eight innings.
At the plate the Beavers are led by Sara Van Wickler, with a .353/.421/.632 slash line this season while smacking six doubles, one home run and driving in 15 runs. Sarah Misner is slashing .325/.378/.675 with six doubles, two home runs and 10 RBI.
Paige Kellogg is batting .324 with an .803 OPS, while smacking one home run and driving in 16 runs. Anna LaCount has a .278 average with a .819 OPS this season, with two home runs and 14 RBI.
Katie Newberry leads the Beavers in the circle with a 5-1 record, 0.95 ERA, 0.93 WHIP and 42 strikeouts in 44.0 innings pitched. Taylor Kruser is 2-5 this season with a 2.87 ERA, 1.49 WHIP and 14 strikeouts in 39.0 innings pitched.
Sal Rodriguez is in his third season as the head coach of the Beavers, after serving in an interim role with the team in 2023. He is 66-53 across three seasons at the helm in Minot.
