ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Golden Bears wrap up the 2009 regular season schedule this evening at Dunning Field, hosting Southwest Minnesota State in a doubleheader that will help determine the league's regular season titleholder. Concordia is currently fifth in the league (33-19, 15-7 NSIC) while the Mustangs have a half game edge with the NSIC's best record of 19-5 (27-19 overall). The games will start under the lights at 6:00 pm this evening, with a live broadcast and live stats available for those who are unable to attend. LISTEN LIVE - LIVE STATS - COMPLETE RELEASE
Today's NSIC matchup between the Golden Bears and Mustangs is a story that has been told several times in the past. For the past three seasons, Southwest Minnesota State has played and defeated Concordia in order to seal an NSIC regular season title. They claimed titles in 2006, 2007 & 2008, each time taking wins against Concordia for the championship. The Golden Bears can stop this trend from reoccuring once again by taking at least one game today, forcing Augustana College to sweep MSU Moorhead (also playing tonight) to overtake SMSU for the title.
The key to Southwest Minnesota State's ascension in the NSIC standings after a rocky season start has been their pitching. The Mustangs have put up a 1.96 ERA through the conference schedule, with Amanda Johnson being the ace of the staff with a 1.14 ERA. Johnson has kept batters to just .201 hitting and has struck out 99 batters. Concordia's Stephanie Schmikla has led the Golden Bears with 18 wins this season, taking victories in seven of eight games prior to last weekend. She has been a work horse for the team, pitching 192.1 innings, second most in the league.
The Golden Bears have the clear advantage on offense, putting up a program high .311 average compared with SMSU's .269 mark. The Mustangs have fared better in NSIC games, however, batting .304. Concordia is ahead of Southwest in both doubles (40) and triples (12) during the NSIC season, but the Mustangs lead the conference with 26 home runs. Anna Bjorlin leads Concordia with a .373 average while Amanda Burkhart leads SMSU with a .387 average. Burkhart is the conference leader in RBI (51) and home runs (15).
The Golden Bears will honor their two departing seniors between games this evening. Outfielder Natalie Mast is the Concordia all-time recordholder for steals with 100 swipes and walks with 95 free passes. She has played in 215 games for the Golden Bears, totaling 173 hits, including 22 doubles. Pitcher Jenn Kaminski has made 56 appearances in the circle for Concordia during her three years with the team. She has made 42 career starts and has 30 complete games under her belt. Kaminski has struck out 98 batters and has won 23 games for the Golden Bears.
