Mankato, Minn. - A first inning two out, grand slam off the bat ofBrynn Larsen (Oconto Falls, Wis.) gave CU a 4-0 lead and bloop single in the seventh from Calli Brennan (Mendota Heights, Minn.) helped Concordia (32-20) pick up a 7-5 win over Minnesota Duluth (37-21). Concordia will advance to the winner's bracket game against Minnesota State/Fort Lewis tomorrow at 11:00 a.m.
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The game started with two outs before CU rallied. Brennan singled up the middle andErin Tjornhom (Eagan, Minn.) reached on an infield single to put runners on first and second. Missie Feuerbach (Iowa City, Iowa) batted and drew a 10 pitch walk to load the bases. On a 1-0 pitch, Larsen "saw an inside pitch and it felt good off my bat," she must have really liked it because she made a deposit over the right center fence giving CU the 4-0 lead. Ashley Kluever(Cottage Grove, Minn.) got the start for the Golden Bears and pitched around a two out walk in the first as the runner left early to end the inning.
The Golden Bears went down in order in the top of the second inning before UMD made some two out noise of their own. Strikeouts doomed the first two batters of the inning but then a walk and two straight singles loaded the bases. A hit by pitch allowed a run to score and then single up the middle gave the Bulldogs two more runs. The inning ended as Kluever picked up her third strikeout of the inning.
The next three innings were fairly quiet for both CU and UMD. Concordia had the leadoff runner on in the third but the middle of the order could not capitalize. UMD went down in order in their half of the inning, a big way to respond for Kluever after having issues in the second. Concordia again got a leadoff runner on in the fourth but again couldn't build on the lead. Minnesota Duluth left a runner on in their half of the fourth inning as well. The Golden Bears top of the line up went down in order in the top of the fourth inning. Kluever pitched around aone out single in the fifth keeping the score 4-3 after five innings.
Erin Tjornhom led off the sixth with a double off the wall in left center, just missing a homerun. She would score a batter latter when she stole third and then was able to score on the overthrow by the catcher. It was a big run as the Bulldogs battled back in their half of the sixth inning. A single through the right side started the inning and then a one out single down the line in right put runners on first and third with one down. A come backer to Kluever followed as she threw out the batter at first but the tying run moved into scoring position. Three straight walks allowed UMD to tie the game at five headed to the seventh inning.
Katie Feuerbach (Iowa City, Iowa) led off the seventh inning for CU and going into the at bat was just 2-30 on the year but in the post season all that matters is what you have done lately and the junior came through with a single over the thirdbaseman. Megan Revoir (Hammond, Wis.) came in to pinch run for her adding some speed on the base paths. Katie Anderson (Mendota Heights, Minn.) walked and then Alicia Meiser (Circle Pines, Minn.) reached on an infield single. Senior Calli Brennan came up with the bases loaded and delivered a single to left scoring Revoir and giving CU the lead back. After a pop up out, M. Feuerbach had another clutch post season at bat drawing a walk and putting CU up 7-5 headed to the bottom of the seventh. Kluever was able to finish off the Bulldogs picking up a pair strikeouts and included drama to boot. Minnesota Duluth put runners on second and third with two outs before Kluever got a ground ball back to her and threw over to first ending the threat and putting CU into the winners bracket.
After the game Bob Bartel explained he was "proud of how the team battled back and that it was fun to be a part of the game." Brennan talked about her single in the seventh saying "I knew I needed to get the ball to the outfield and give us the lead."