SEWARD, Neb. – Lightning that filled up the night sky prevented the Concordia University Softball team from a chance at late rally on Monday (April 15) as a strong six-game homestand concluded. Kylie Shottenkirk homered in both ends of the doubleheader as the Bulldogs split with College of Saint Mary at Plum Creek Park. Concordia took game one by a 10-5 score before falling, 9-5, in a game two that was reduced to five-and-a-half innings due to lightning.
Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad (17-21, 7-7 GPAC) went 5-1 on the homestand that featured three doubleheaders in a four-day stretch. Culler was pleased to see the offensive lineup break out with a combined 50 runs scored over those six games.
“The big picture is we went 5-1 over that six-game stretch,” Culler said. “We really needed that, and we needed to get our offense going like that. Our girls are swinging the bats well and playing with a lot of confidence. We can pull a lot of positives out of that. The big stress going into this stretch was we had to get our offense going. We did that. I am really proud of our team that way.”
CSM was never able to retire the Lincoln North Star alum Shottenkirk all evening. She went 3-for-3 with a walk in game one and then 1-for-1 with two walks in game two. She scorched the Flames in the game one win with a solo homer in the second, a two-run double in the fourth and an RBI single in the sixth. The suddenly red-hot Bulldog lineup notched 15 hits in the first contest, with two apiece coming from Jennifer Katz (2-for-3), Laycee Josoff (2-for-3), Aubriana Krieser (2-for-4), Julia Van Wey (2-for-4) and Aubrey Bruning (2-for-5).
Three-run frames in the fourth and fifth innings supplied Concordia some breathing room. Katz singled in two runs in the fifth and Josoff knocked in one run apiece in the fourth and fifth frames. The outburst helped make a winner out of pitcher Taryn Ganstrom, who covered 4.1 innings in relief of Megan Eurich. Culler attempted to mix and match with some weary arms that have been heavily used over the past four days. Eurich threw a combined 3.1 innings over the two contests.
It certainly felt as though the Bulldogs were capable of rallying in game two before the lightning came. Concordia had come back to win after facing an 11-6 deficit two days earlier versus Dakota Wesleyan. Down 7-1 in the middle of the second inning of Monday’s second game, Concordia chipped away with Shottenkirk’s solo homer in the second and with RBI singles from Krieser and Delanie Voshell in the third. The game’s final tallies came when Cassie Wiseman doubled in two runs in the top of the sixth. Just as the bottom half was about to get underway, the game was called.
The powerful bat of Shottenkirk electrified Concordia as it fell one win shy of a perfect homestand. She has homered eight times in her Bulldog career.
Said Culler, “She’s been really working on her swing. She had a good workout this afternoon. She’s getting her confidence back, which is big for us. Our big hitters need to hit big, and that’s what they’re starting to do. I like where we’re at. I think what we ran into is that our pitchers are a little bit tired. We’re going to give them some time off and let them get rested up.”
While Shottenkirk provided the thunder on Monday, there were four Bulldogs who hit .400 or better during the six-game home stretch: Van Wey (10-for-21), Krieser (10-for-22), Josoff (7-for-16) and Voshell (8-for-20). Concordia hit .365 as a team during that timeframe.
After six in a row at home, the Bulldogs will venture on the road this weekend and will play doubleheaders at Briar Cliff (17-16, 5-7 GPAC) on Friday and at Mount Marty (17-17, 8-6 GPAC) on Saturday. First pitches are slated for 3 p.m. CT on Friday and 1 p.m. on Saturday. By week’s end, there will be just four games remaining on the regular season schedule.