Svoboda, Beeson lift Bulldogs to game two win at DWU
MITCHELL, S.D. – Senior outfielder Natalie Svoboda capped a great day by cracking the game-winning, 10th-inning RBI double in game two of Saturday’s doubleheader at Dakota Wesleyan. Svoboda’s clutch hit allowed the Bulldogs to salvage a split. After dropping game one, 5-2, Concordia came back to win 4-3 in the 10-inning game two affair.
The Bulldogs now sit at 13-24 overall and 7-11 in GPAC games, leaving them tied for eighth in the standings with only two regular-season contests remaining.
Svoboda, who provided Concordia’s only two runs in game one via a long ball, went 4-for-7 on the day with a homer, a double, three RBIs and three runs. With Nicole Mapes on third and one out in the 10th, Svoboda notched her third hit of the game by lacing a double to score Mapes.
Extra innings would not have possible without Molly Madsen’s key RBI double to score Svoboda in the sixth to knot things up at 3-3.
After trailing nearly all of game one, the Bulldogs grabbed their first lead of the day on Angela Harstad’s solo homer with two outs in the top of the third of game two. The Bulldogs led 2-0 in the middle of the fourth after adding a run in the fourth.
Concordia game one starting pitcher Amanda Beeson (7-11) put forth anther terrific outing as she went all 10 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while striking out eight. She retired the first 10 Dakota Wesleyan hitters of the game until walking Lindy Snook in the fourth. Later that inning Hailey Unger struck for a three-run homer that gave the Tigers a 3-2 lead.
In game one, Dakota Wesleyan quickly seized momentum with a three-run first highlighted by Katie Anderus’ two-run blast off of Concordia starter Julia Tyree. The Tigers made it 5-0 with two runs in the fourth thanks mostly to a sloppy Bulldog defense that committed three errors in the frame.
Concordia never mounted a serious rally and did not get on the board until the top of the fifth. That’s when Svoboda launched her second home run of the season that got Concordia within 5-2. However, Tiger pitcher Jil Dickson threw up zeroes in the sixth and seventh innings to complete the game and send the Bulldogs to a fifth-straight defeat.
Concordia senior Nicole Mapes extended her hitting streak to six games with one hit in each game on Saturday. The Greeley, Colo., native is 14-for-35 (.400) over her last nine games.
The Bulldogs’ 10 hits in game two marked the ninth time this season the team has recorded 10 hits or more in a game. Concordia’s season high of 16 hits came on March 20 in a 17-4 at Central Christian (Kan.).
The Bulldogs finish up the regular season on Tuesday, April 30 when Nebraska Wesleyan (14-15, 8-8 GPAC) visits Plum Creek Park for a doubleheader set to begin at 5 p.m.