Softball drops two to Concordia-St. Paul

The team struggled to garner enough runs against the Golden Bears 

Merle Stramm
Staff Writer

After coming off of two wins in Kansas against Emporia and Pittsburg State last week, the softball team traveled back to their home state. They faced off with the Concordia Golden Bears in St. Paul, Minnesota during a double header Wednesday.

During the first game, the Golden Bears were able to establish their lead early by scoring a run in the top of the first inning. Following this, both teams managed to not allow any further scoring for the next three innings to come. 

Concordia’s offense went on to secure said lead in the later half of the game, scoring three runs within the last three innings. This brought their lead up to 0-4, leaving the Mavericks trailing behind. 

Sophomore Torey Richards then set off an impressive play, what seemed to be an incredible comeback for the Mavericks in the last inning. She was able to secure two late points by hitting her first home run of the season, which lead to a double run that put the Mavericks on the scoreboard at 2-4. 

At the end of this rigorous last inning, another run scored by Julia Bastian left the score at 3-4. Sadly, a grounded-out ball would leave the Mavericks one point short, which lead to the end of the game with a win for the Golden Bears. 

Notably however, pitcher Mackenzie Ward was able to pitch a full game with 13 strikeouts.

In the second game, a strong defense created high anticipation for a score, which went on all the way through the fourth inning. Concordia then picked the game back up by scoring two runs and set the tone for what would be an unfortunate outcome for the Mavericks.

Throughout the following inning, sophomore pitcher Lexi Schoper was able to bring the Golden Bears back on their toes by allowing zero hits. Despite this, the Mavericks remained unsuccessful in scoring runs throughout the end of the second game. During the last inning, the Maverick defense weakened, and the Golden Bears put two more points on the scoreboard for a 0-4, thereby also winning the second half of this double header in St. Paul. 

The Mavericks now stand at 15-9 and will travel to North Dakota to take on the University of Mary on Saturday. 

Header photo courtesy of Keith Paap.