ST. PAUL, Minn. - Quickly earning the reputation as the cardiac kids, the University of Mary Softball team mounted a pair of comeback wins today against Concordia University-St. Paul in an afternoon Northern Sun doubleheader.
 
The Marauders (14-26, 8-13 NSIC) rallied from a 5-1 shortfall in game one to clinch their third extra-inning win in the past week, and had to overcome an 8-7 disadvantage in game two for a hard-earned sweep over the Golden Bears (12-28, 6-14 NSIC).
 
GAME ONE
 
Harkening back to their doubleheader during the 2015 regular season where the teams combined for seven home runs over the course of the day, U-Mary took the first contest behind the long ball barrage late in the game as the Marauders mounted their third comeback attempt in the past week.
 
Concordia-St. Paul struck first in the bottom half of the opening inning as Liz Jarosz drove the first run in on a groundball that was fielded by starting pitcher MeLanie Rodriguez with the bases loaded, but the ball ended up in no-man's land and forced a throw from the pitcher over to first base in order to effect an out rather than surrendering the run without retiring a base runner.
 
Facing the quick 1-0 deficit, Rodriguez sat the next two Golden Bear batters down and the Marauders knotted the score in the top of the third when Amber Gamboa drove a shot deep into the left center gap and stood on second base when the dust settled as Alana Norman crossed the plate to set the score at 1-1.
 
Despite the lone run early in the contest, Linzy Heim kept U-Mary hitters away from home plate through the majority of the game as the Marauders left six runners on base through six innings. Meanwhile, Concordia-St. Paul expanded their lead in the bottom of the sixth as Elena Koncar drove the 1-2 pitch from Rodriguez over the left field fence for a three-run shot, followed by Justine Shattner's single to left center to score Jamie Fleischhacker, for a 5-1 Golden Bear lead as the stage was eventually set once again for a seventh inning rally.
 
Deciding that a four-run shortage wasn't a big enough challenge, Heim struck out the first two U-Mary hitters of the inning to ramp the pressure up while Norman stepped up to the plate as the potential final out.
 
Norman refused to go down quietly and drove the 1-1 pitch hard at the shortstop and beat the throw out for an infield hit to keep U-Mary's hopes alive. After the speedster advanced to second on a wild pitch, Demaree Rodriguez decided she was tired of having her long fly balls rejected by the outfield fence and laced the 2-2 pitch from Heim over the left field wall to cut the Golden Bear lead down to 5-3.
 
Gamboa also faced a 2-2 count during her at bat and battled back to keep the inning alive with a single back up the middle, and Taylor Mendez wasted little time to answer the question on everybody's mind as she tied the game at 5-5 with one swing of the bat by driving the first pitch she saw over the right center field fence, only to have Heim force a groundout from the final batter to send the game into the bottom of the seventh.
 
Taylor Lara had already stymied the Golden Bears when she entered in relief in the bottom of the sixth and carried the momentum into the seventh as she stranded a runner at first to keep the score tied and sent the contest into extra innings. U-Mary had the opportunity to take the lead in the top of the eighth on Kylie Alto's one-out double to left center, but she couldn't make it home despite advancing to third on a passed ball with two outs.
 
Concordia-St. Paul went down in order in the bottom half of the eighth, and U-Mary had another golden chance to take the lead in the top of the ninth as Norman led the inning off with another infield single to the shortstop, but turned into an out on the fielder's choice ground ball from Demaree Rodriguez, keeping a runner at first.
 
Gamboa followed up with a single to right center to put runners at the corners and set the stage again for Mendez as the Los Banos, Calif., native became the difference maker and skied the first pitch of the at bat to straightaway center field for a three-run jack.
 
Heim remained in the game for Concordia-St. Paul and settled down to prevent any more runs from crossing the plate, but the damage had already been done as U-Mary went into the bottom of the ninth with an 8-5 lead.
 
Lara proved efficient in closing out the game as the first two pitches of the inning went for fly ball outs and forced a groundout on the 3-1 pitch to the final batter that crystalized the first game as an 8-5 win for U-Mary.
 
Taylor Mendez finished with three hits in the opening contests with one single and two home runs to go with five RBI, two runs and a walk as she inched closer to Allison Brown on the U-Mary NCAA-era home run list. Mendez currently has 36 home runs in a Marauder uniform while Brown finished with 37 in her illustrious career.
 
Amber Gamboa also finished with three hits in the game, two singles and a double, to go with one RBI and two runs, while Alana Norman and Shawnee Zink recorded two singles apiece as the Marauder offense teed off for 14 hits in the game.
 
Demaree Rodriguez's lone hit came on the two-run shot in the seventh inning, while Kylie Alto and Keegan Wickman each recorded a double, and Lex Hubbard finished with a single to round out the hitting.
 
MeLanie Rodriguez took the no-decision as she went five innings, struck out three and surrendered nine hits in her appearance, while Taylor Lara recorded her fourth win of the year as she pitched four innings in relief, gave up only one hit and struck out two Golden Bears.
 
GAME TWO
 
U-Mary came out cannons blazing in the top of the first as Norman scored on a sacrifice fly from Gamboa, Zink drove in Demaree Rodriguez with an RBI single through the left side, and Mendez scored on a sacrifice fly from Alto for a 3-0 Marauder lead going into the second.
 
Concordia-St. Paul quickly responded in the bottom of the second as Fleischhacker singled back up the middle to score Carlie Hart, while Nicole Thompson drove a single into left field to score Kelly McKenzie to cut U-Mary's lead down to 3-2 going into the third.
 
Mendez padded her home run total with a solo shot in the top of the third for a 4-2 lead, but was one-upped by Colleen Crutchfield as the Oregon City, Ore., native roped the first pitch of her at bat from Haley Schanks down the left field line for a two-run shot and a 6-2 Marauder lead.
 
Like a pair of title contenders trading punches, the Golden Bears came right back in the bottom half of the third as Sarah Kivisto sent a sacrifice fly to center field that scored Jarosz, while Hart singled through the right side to bring in Schanks to narrow U-Mary's lead down to 6-4 going into the fourth.
 
The Marauders got an insurance run in the fourth inning on Gamboa's single to right center that brought in Demaree Rodriguez for a 7-4 Marauder lead, but Concordia-St. Paul proved resilient as Fleischhacker brought in McKenzie on a groundout in the bottom of the sixth and Heim, coming into the game in relief of Schanks, helped herself to a three-run home run to give the Golden Bears an 8-7 lead, setting another comeback stage for the Marauders in the top of the seventh.
 
Rather than upping the ante by battling with their last out of the game, Zink led off with a solo shot to tie the game on a 2-1 pitch before Heim could record the first two outs on a fly ball and popup to the next two U-Mary batters to bring up Hubbard.
 
Facing a 1-2 count, Hubbard fouled off consecutive pitches from Heim before finally getting a pitch in her wheel house and laced a shot over the left field fence to give the Marauders a 9-8 lead before Heim recorded the final out on a strikeout.
 
As if one comeback was improbable enough, MeLanie Rodriguez had a chance to secure the second as she came in relief of Brieann Backes in the third and baffled the Golden Bears in the bottom of the seventh by drawing a popup from Lizzy Swenson to lead the inning off, followed up with a line out from Hart, and capped off with a strikeout of McKenzie to complete the sweep for the Marauders at 9-8.
 
Four Marauders recorded multiple hits on the backend of the doubleheader, led by Taylor Mendez's home run and double, matched by Colleen Crutchfield's home run and double, followed up with Shawnee Zink's home run and single, and rounded out by Demaree Rodriguez's dual singles. Mendez is now tied atop U-Mary's NCAA-era career home run list as she now owns 37 to match Allison Brown.
 
Lex Hubbard added the first home run of her career, while Amber Gamboa and Alana Norman each recorded a single as the Marauders teamed up for 11 hits in the game.
 
Brieann Backes started in the circle for U-Mary and went 2.2 innings before MeLanie Rodriguez relieved her in the third. Rodriguez finished with 4.1 innings pitched, gave up four hits and struck out two to earn her sixth win of the year.
 
The Marauders will wrap up their weekend travel plans with a visit to Mankato, Minn., tomorrow as they take on Minnesota State University with first pitch of the doubleheader scheduled for 12 PM CDT.
 
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