BELLEVUE, Neb. – In one final nonconference outing of 2026, Concordia University, Nebraska Softball owned a short-lived advantage before falling on the road. Host Bellevue University, broke the game open in the middle innings and rolled to an 8-2 victory on a pleasant evening at Renner Dennis Outdoor Complex on Wednesday (March 25). A bright spot for the Bulldogs was their error-free defensive effort, headlined by fine work in the middle infield from shortstop Taryn Ganstrom and second baseman Laycee Josoff.
Head Coach Brock Culler’s squad stands at 12-9 in the middle of a week chalk full of both varsity and junior varsity action.
“We ran into a buzzsaw,” Culler said. “It didn’t matter who we threw or what we threw. They hit it where we weren’t, and we hit it at them tonight. Offensively, our approach was good. We only had one strikeout. We put the bat on the ball – we just hit it at them. I thought we pitched pretty well and played good defense.”
Both teams went scoreless over the first two frames in Bellevue. Concordia struck first when Avery O’Boyle chased Grace Zaugg home with a base hit in the third. The Bruins responded impressively by scoring three times in the bottom of the third, twice in the fourth and three more times in the fifth. Led by catcher Marguerite Brown (3-for-4 with two runs and three RBIs), Bellevue (12-13) rapped out 14 hits off Bulldog pitchers Kaylei Denison and Kierstyn Linn.
First baseman Aubriana Krieser brought the Bulldogs a run closer in the sixth with an RBI double that scored Tobi Topp from first. Krieser was responsible for two of the team’s five hits off Bruin pitcher Carly Bertolini, who went six innings (no walks and 11 groundball outs). Concordia struck out only one time (final at bat) during the seven-inning contest.
Denison started in the circle and wound up covering 3.2 innings. After being relieved by Linn in the third, Denison (three runs allowed) returned in the fifth. Linn pitched 2.1 innings (five runs surrendered).
The Bulldogs will be right back to action on Thursday for their home opening doubleheader. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. CT in the matchup between Concordia and Morningside (13-11, 4-0 GPAC). The Mustangs began league play last week with home doubleheader sweeps of Briar Cliff and Doane.
Said Culler of the opportunity to quickly reset and play at home, “They’re pretty excited. We want to get on our home dirt and play in front of our home fans. This team’s been doing some good things. They’re working hard and playing well.”