St. Paul, MN – The University of Sioux Falls softball team split a site-reversal doubleheader versus Concordia St. Paul on Thursday morning. Game 1, USF won by a score of 4-3 and Game 2 ended with a 4-3 victory for Concordia St. Paul.
 
Game 1: USF 4, CSP 3
 
The Cougars came away with a victory in Game 1 against CSP by a score of 4-3.
 
The Cougars got on the board in the bottom of the 1^st inning as Reese Holzhueter hit a line drive double to left field, scoring Kylan Straight to take an early lead. Kylan Straight and Kylie Madrid started the inning off with each hitting a single of their own.
 
The Bears tied it up in the top of the 3^rd with a solo home run by Heislen to tie it up at 1-1. USF answered back in the bottom of the 3^rd as Kylan Straight led off with a single, followed by a Kylie Madrid bunt, and flyout by Kennedy Thomas. During the Thomas flyout, speedster Kylan Straight went to take 2^nd base, putting the pressure on CSP to make a play, causing two errors and breaking the tie to make it 2-1 for USF.
 
In the top of the 4^th, CSP answered back with a triple by Houston after a Parson's single to tie the game back up at two runs apiece. The Bears hit a sacrifice fly to bring across another run to take a 3-2 lead going into the bottom half of the inning.
 
As the back and forth affair continued, Damaris Cuevas hit a single in the bottom of the 4^th, followed by Taryn Wagner hitting a monster blast to right field for a two-run home run to take a 4-3 lead for the Cougars!
 
From the circle, Hanna Cress shut the door with a complete game and a Game 1 victory for the Cougars. Cress threw seven innings, surrendering six hits, three runs, one walk, and seven strikeouts on the day.
 
The Cougars ended with seven hits on the day, led by senior Kylan Straight with two base knocks and Lexie Swift, Reese Holzhueter, Kylie Madrid, and Damaris Cuevas each had one hit apiece.
 
Game 2: USF 3, CSP 4
 
USF fell to CSP in a closely contested matchup in Game 2 by a score of 4-3 on Thursday morning.
 
The Bears struck first in the bottom of the 1^st inning with a solo home run on a fly back to right field. They followed it up with another home run to right, to take a 2-0 lead through two innings. CSP's Pelzer came up again in the top of the 3^rd inning and doubled the lead with a two-run home run to extend the lead for the Bears by a score of 4-0.
 
In the bottom of the 6^th inning, the Cougars got on the board with two runs of their own. Reese Holzhueter hit a single, followed by a Kennedy Thomas double to put the ducks on the pond for Rylie Jones. Rylie hit an RBI single, scoring Reese Holzhueter to bring across the first run of the game for USF. Kennedy Thomas came across after a stolen base attempt by Rylie Jones on a passed ball to make it a 4-2 ball game.
 
The Cougars continued to put the pressure on as leadoff hitter Lexie Swift started the top of the 7^th inning with a double. Kylan Straight came up and hit a single to left field putting two runners on base. Lexie Swift advanced to 3^rd base on a wild pitch during Kylie Madrid's at bat and Reese Holzhueter hit a ground ball, scoring Lexie Swift to make it a 4-3 ball game. CSP was able to stop the Cougars and won the game by a score of 4-3.
 
From the circle, Bailee Lampman threw six innings, surrendering four runs, seven hits, and striking out three CSP hitters. Hanna Cress came in for the 7^th inning, surrendering one hit, zero runs, and striking out one Bears hitter. The Cougars had 12 hits on the day, led by Lexie Swift, Kylan Straight, and Megan Lawson with two hits each and Reese Holzhueter, Kylie Madrid, Kennedy Thomas, and Rylie Jones, and Damaris Cuevas each contributing one hit of their own.
 
Up Next

The Cougars are back in action on Saturday April 9^th against MSU Moorhead in a NSIC doubleheader matchup. On Sunday, they'll face off against Northern State in another NSIC doubleheader. Keep up with all the news, updates, and highlights on USFCougars.com and the USF Softball social media accounts!