ST. PAUL, Minn. – Fueled by Emily Hove's first-inning grand slam then secured by Ashley Meyer's solo homer and Kerrigan Hoshaw's complete game pitching effort in game one, University of Sioux Falls Softball earned a doubleheader split at Concordia-St. Paul on Tuesday afternoon. The Cougars (25-12, 10-4 NSIC) won game one, 5-3, then faltered on offense in game two, falling by an 8-1 margin.
 
USF Softball, who is tied for fourth in the NSIC with 10 games remaining, is scheduled to host Minnesota Duluth and St. Cloud State this weekend, but the date, times and locations of the games due to the recent weather in Sioux Falls.
 
Sioux Falls 5, Concordia-St. Paul 3
A first-inning grand slam by Emily Hove and a four-hit complete game from pitcher Kerrigan Hoshaw was enough for Sioux Falls to extend their winning streak against Concordia-St. Paul. The Cougars earned a 5-3 win, their eighth straight over CSP, in game one of the doubleheader.
 
Sioux Falls held a 7-4 edge in hits, but it was two that provided all of USF's runs as Ashley Meyer connected on her eighth homerun of the year, adding an insurance run late in the game.
 
Hoshaw worked her second consecutive complete game victory, holding Concordia-St. Paul to four hits and striking out four batters. Following a 0-3 start, Hoshaw has not suffered a loss in 10 appearances, including nine starts, and has a 7-3 record after Tuesday's win.
 
The Cougars' start to the game was not promising as two strikeouts opened their first at-bat, but a CSP error extended the inning in Meyer's first plate appearance. The Cougars capitalized as Hoshaw and Francesca Mickelson each worked walks to load the bases. On a full count, Hove launched the ball over the right field fence, clearing the bases for a 4-0 lead.
 
The Golden Bears quickly answered with a two-run homerun, but Hoshaw limited the damage to two runs. CSP drew within one run, scoring on an RBI double in the third, but Hove's four-run shot still proved to be the difference.
 
In the top of the fifth inning, Meyer added an insurance run, hitting her eighth dinger of the season on an 0-1 pitch. With a two-run cushion, 5-3, Hoshaw allowed one hit over the final three frames, but still had to wriggle out of a seventh-inning jam.
 
CSP led off the bottom of the seventh inning with a pair of pinch-hit walks. After a flyout, Hoshaw induced two groundouts, ending the game with Sioux Falls on top, 5-3.
 
Concordia-St. Paul 8, Sioux Falls 1
Concordia-St. Paul scored all eight of their runs in the first three innings and the Sioux Falls offense couldn't get rolling in an 8-1 loss in game two of the doubleheader. The Cougars dropped their first game to CSP in nine contests, recording just two hits in Tuesday's second leg.
 
With four hits and four walks, Concordia-St. Paul pushed across five runs in the bottom of the first. They added two more in the second and their final run in the third, building an 8-0 lead.
 
The Cougar offense was slow to start, not recording a hit until the fourth inning. Lindsey Mossman worked a leadoff walk and Sydney Nieveen gave USF two runners in scoring position with a double. Ashley Meyer drove in what turned out to be the only Cougar run, scoring Mossman on a groundout.
 
Courtney Mathews came on in relief of USF starting pitcher Breanna Black to start the third inning, and Mathews allowed one run on four hits in four innings of work. While Mathews kept the Cougars' deficit at seven runs, USF mustered just one more hit for the remainder of the game, an Emily Miller single with two outs in the seventh inning.