ST. PAUL, Minn. — The Concordia-St. Paul softball team returns to Carlander Field Tuesday afternoon for a doubleheader with the St. Cloud State Huskies to kick off a crucial six game week as the Golden Bears head into the home stretch of the 2026 season. The scheduled start times for Tuesday afternoon's home doubleheader are set for 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
CSP's remaining four games this week will take place on the road as they head north for a doubleheader with the MSU Moorhead Dragons on Saturday, April 25 with first pitch of game one set for 12 p.m. On Sunday, April 26 the Golden Bears continue their road trip with a doubleheader against the Minnesota Crookston Golden Eagles with a scheduled start time of 1 p.m. for game one.
The Golden Bears now have a 23-20 overall recrod with a 12-8 record in NSIC play, placing them fourth in the conference standings.
Weather Forecast
Tuesday afternoon's forecast calls for a high of 74 degrees with plenty of sunshine, winds out of the north at 8 mph and a 2% chance of precipitation, making for a perfect afternoon of softball at Carlander Field.
Saturday's forecast in Moorhead is mostly cloudy, breezy and chilly with a high of 49 degrees, winds out of the west at 17 mph and a 22% chance of precipitation. The weather outlook in Crookston for Sunday's doubleheader has a high of 48 degrees with winds out of the west-southwest at 10 mph and a 25% chance of precipitation.
Last Time Out
CSP went 1-3 last weekend, dropping both ends of a Saturday afternoon doubleheader against the No. 24-ranked Winona State Warriors before heading down to Mankato and securing a split with the Mavericks behind a 10 inning win in game two of the doubleheader.
The Golden Bears took a pair of one run losses to the Warriors on Thursday afternoon, 3-2 and 4-3. In game one Winona State jumped out to a 3-0 lead, scoring three unearned runs in the top of the fourth inning.
In their next turn at the plate the Golden Bears chipped away at the deficit with a Danni Sharum solo home run to left field to make it a 3-1 ballgame. Ava Blake smacked a two out RBI double to the left center gap to make it a one run game, but CSP couldn't close the gap as they fell, 3-2.
In game two, CSP struck first plating the game's first run on a Danni Sharum RBI single to left. Alexis Monty later padded the lead with a leadoff solo bomb, her second of the season, to open a 2-0 lead.
Later in the inning the Golden Bears took advantage of a Winona State error with Danni Sharum reaching first on the miscue and sending home Riley Rosenthal to take a 3-0 lead.
Winona struck for three in the fourth, tying the game on a pair of RBI singles before grabbing the lead in the fifth and going on to win, 4-3.
Sunday's doubleheader in Mankato saw CSP drop game one to the Mavericks, 4-2. MSU put up a three spot in the first with a two RBI double to left center and a sacrifice fly.
The Mavericks later added on with a RBI single up the middle to make it a 4-0 ballgame. Lily Burke got the Golden Bears into the hit column with a leadoff double in the fifth, before two runs came around to score on a Maverick error to cut the deficit in half at 4-2, which ended up being the final score.
CSP once again battled back from an early deficit in game two after the Mavericks scored the game's first run on a RBI single to left in the second. The Golden Bears responded with a three spot in the third, taking the lead on a Sharum sac fly to left field.
MSU tied the game at three in the sixth, scoring a run on a wild pitch as the game went to extra innings. CSP pushed across the go ahead run in the 10th on a Lily Burke RBI Sac fly, Emmy Bowne locked it down in the bottom of the 10th to secure the 4-3 win and the split.
Danni Sharum led the Golden Bears at the plate last week with a .444/.538/778 slash line across four games. Sharum belted her team leading fourth home run of the season and drove in three runs, while drawing three walks.
Emmy Bowne tossed 13.2 innings with a 1.54 ERA and six strikeouts, while picking up the win in relief on Sunday afternoon.
Golden Bears by the Numbers
Ava Blake leads the Golden Bears in average, batting .325 with a .396 on-base percentage and a .436 slugging percentage. Blake leads the team in doubles with nine while driving 15 runs and stealing six bases.
Riley Rosenthal has a .324/.344/.412 slash line this season, while leading the team and ranking 12th in the NSIC with 48 hits this season, including four doubles, three triples and one home run. Rosenthal is a perfect 11-for-11 in stolen base attempts this season, while collecting 14 RBI.
Junior shortstop Alexis Monty has a .308/.413/.474 slash line this season, Monty has eight doubles, four triple, the sixth most in the NSIC this season and two homers while driving in 17 runs and drawing a team leading 21 walks out of the leadoff spot. Monty's 21 walks are a new career high and good for 12th in the NSIC.
Danni Sharum's batting average is up to .303 while posting a .435 OBP and a .444 slugging percentage. Sharum leads the team in roundtrippers with four this season, while driving in a team leading 21 runs and drawing 21 walks.
Bryleigh Dana has a .298 average and a .344 OBP in 57 at bats this season with four doubles and 10 RBI. Katie Klotz is batting .275 with two doubles, a triple and two home runs, while driving in 12 runs.
Lily Burke leads the team and ranks fifth in the NSIC in stolen bases, swiping 18 bags in 20 attempts.
In the circle, Emmy Bowne has made 22 starts with an 11-10 record and a 3.02 ERA in 130.0 innings pitched. Bowne ranks ninth in the NSIC in innings and has tossed 13 complete games this season, the seventh most in the conference, while leading the team with 64 strikeouts. Bowne leads the team with a 1.7 K/BB ratio as well.
Tatum Dunlavy has made 21 starts this season with an 8-7 record and a 3.17 ERA in 99.1 innings pitched. Dunalvy has tossed five complete games this season and has collected 47 strikeouts.
Abi Carter has made 21 relief appearances with a 4-3 record while pitching to a 1.55 ERA, the second lowest in the NSIC, in 55.1 innings pitched. Carter has picked up two saves this season, while striking out 23 batters with a team low .240 opponent batting average.
The Golden Bears have a 2.87 ERA as a staff this season, the fifth best mark in the NSIC. CSP has kept opponents in the ballpark this season, giving up 13 homers this season, the fifth fewest in the conference.
In one run games this season the Golden Bears have a 10-7 record, while holding a 15-4 record when scoring first and a 19-2 record when leading after four innings. CSP is a perfect 5-0 this season in extra inning games as well.
With runners in scoring position the Golden Bears are batting a collective .260, Riley Rosenthal leads the team with a .340 average with RISP, while Alexis Monty is batting .290 and Ava Blake is batting .292 in such situations.
The Golden Bears have a .295 average when pinch hitting this season, Haley Knoblauch leads the team when being summoned off the bench, going 3-for-10 at the plate as a pinch hitter.
St. Cloud State, Tuesday, April 21 at 2 p.m. and 4 p.m.
Series Record: CSP 28, SCSU 29
In an extensive history that dates back to the 2002 season the Huskies hold a slim one game lead after picking up a 2-1 win at the Kelly Laas Memorial Tournament earlier this season in St. Cloud.
Last season the Huskies got the series back to .500 with a doubleheader sweep of CSP in St. Cloud. Prior to that the Golden Bears swept the season series in 2024 with a pair of wins at Northwestern-St. Paul in Roseville.
The St. Cloud State Huskies currently sit in second place in the NSIC standings with a 34-12 overall record and a 16-4 record in conference play. The Huskies are coming off a 3-1 week where they picked up a doubleheader sweep of Minnesota State at home before splitting with Winona State on the road on Sunday.
The Huskies are anchored by their pitching staff this season, who lead the NSIC with 1.70 ERA, it is also the second lowest mark in all of Division II. At the plate St. Cloud is middle of the pack ranking ninth in the conference with a team average of .286, while scoring 221 runs as a team, good for seventh in the conference.
Morgan Honeycutt leads the Huskies with a .964 OPS posting a .293/.400/.564 slash line this season. Honeycutt leads the team with six home runs, while driving in 35 runs.
Brooke Holmes has a .945 OPS coming via a .338/.455/.490 slash line with 10 doubles, two homers and 21 RBI. Bethany Weiss has a .901 OPS with a .335/.379/.522 slash line, four homers and a team leading 38 RBI.
In the circle Macey Clark is 15-5 across 22 starts with a NSIC leading 1.37 ERA. Clark has tossed 133.1 innings with 13 complete games and 120 strikeouts to 44 walks.
Justyce Porter is 12-6 across 17 starts with a 2.00 ERA in 108.2 innings pitched. Porter owns a 63-36 K-BB ratio this season.
The Huskies are coached by Mitch Roberts who is in his fifth season at St. Cloud State.
MSU Moorhead, Saturday, April 25 at 12 p.m. and 2 p.m.
Series Record: CSP 45, MSUM 11
The Golden Bears have had the upper hand in the all-time series with the Dragons spanning 56 games dating back to the 2000 season. CSP owns a 45-11 record over MSU Moorhead in that time frame including two separate winning streaks of 12 and 10 games.
More recently the Golden Bears have won each of the last four meetings between the two teams, sweeping the season in each of the past two years with 6-5 and 4-1 wins at Carlander Field last season.
The Dragons are near the bottom of the NSIC this season with a 7-36 overall record and a 5-15 record in conference play. MSU Moorhead earned a pair of splits last week against Bemidji State and Minnesota Duluth.
The MSU Moorhead pitching staff ranks last in the NSIC this season with a 6.22 ERA. At the plate the Dragons are batting .264 as a team while scoring 129 runs, both marks place 15th in the conference.
Lexie Wilson leads the team with a .832 OPS coming via a .324/.445/.387 slash line with seven doubles and 16 RBI. Riley McKeever has a .780 OPS with a .343/.373/.407 slash line, three doubles, two triples and 12 RBI.
In the circle Brynna Farman has made 17 starts with a 1-14 record and a 4.48 ERA, tossing 81.1 innings with a 60-44 K-BB ratio. Bella Hess has made nine starts with a 4-6 record and a 4.5 ERA across 66.2 innings of work, with a 29-30 K-BB ratio.
Vanessa Kellems is in her second season as the head coach of the MSU Moorhead softball team after posting a 20-37 record in her first season at the helm.
Minnesota Crookston, Sunday, April 26 at 1 p.m. and 3 p.m.
Series Record: CSP 47, UMC 2
Across 49 meetings dating back to the 2000 season the all-time series between the two teams has belonged to the Golden Bears, with CSP holding a 47-2 mark in that span. The Golden Eagles earned a 2-1 win in the fourth game of the all-time series in 2002 and didn't get back in the win column until April of 2022 as CSP took each of the 39 intervening matchups.
Since dropping that game in 2022 the Golden Bears have won each of the last five games in the series.
This season the Golden Eagles are 12-32 overall and 6-13 in NSIC, which places them 13th in the conference standings.
Chayse Doering leads the Golden Eagles with a .933 OPS coming via a .315/.401/.532 slash line. Doering has eight doubles, five triples and three home runs with 28 RBI this season. Rayna French has a .824 OPS with a .315/.380/.444 slash line while smacking nine doubles and one home run with 23 RBI.
In the circle Charlotte Dombrowski leads the UMC staff with a 6-7 record and a 3.73 ERA in 75.0 innings of work with a 46-43 K-BB ratio. Hannah Trzinski is 3-6 in the circle this season with a 5.52 ERA in 45.2 innings of work, while owning a 20-48 K-BB ratio.
Ashton Sangster is in her second season at the helm of the Minnesota Crookston softball program.
