MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/23/06)-- If you're a two-time defending national champion, chances are you're pretty good. That was the case with 2004 and 2005 NCAA champion, and current No.1-ranked, St. Thomas on Sunday as they swept Concordia 11-0, 5-0 on Sunday in Moorhead. The opener was called after five innings due to the eight-run rule. The Tommies extended their current winning streak to 24 games. They have not lost to a Division III opponent in 48 games and have not dropped an MIAC contest over the span of the last 27 games.

The good news for Concordia was that in the second game they held the Tommie juggenaut to only five runs - their second lowest run-total in conference play this season. It was also only the fourth time in their 16 league games that all seven innings were played. Cobber freshman pitcher Jill Reinert continued to progress as a solid collegiate pitcher. She held the Tommies scoreless in four of the seven innings and allowed only four earned runs.

The two losses drop Concordia's conference record to 7-11. The Cobbers have lost four straight after bringing their record to the .500 level at 7-7 on Thursday. Concordia is now 12-18 overall. St. Thomas remains unblemished in MIAC play, moving to 16-0. They also improved their overall mark to 31-1.

St. Thomas jumped on Concordia ealry in the first game as they scored six runs in the first inning off of Cobber starter Lindy Sparby. The Tommies added two more in the third inning and a pair more in the fourth to put the game out of reach. St. Thomas starting pitcher Kallie Samuelson went the first three innings and allowed three hits to earn her first win of the season. Carrie Embree and Ashley Carlblom provided the biggest hits for the Tommie offense. Both players hit a home run while collecting a pair of hits. Embree went 2-for-3 with two runs scored and two RBI's, while Carlblom finished 2-for-2 with three RBI's.

The second game started just like the first with the Tommies taking an early lead. Reinert allowed two runs in the opening inning as St. Thomas clouted four of their 11 hits in the game in the first frame.

Reinert settled down for the final six innings and only allowed seven more hits. The most damaging was a two-run home run from Maria Bye that pushed the score to 4-0 in the fifth inning.

Bye was one of four St. Thomas players that had multiple-hit games in the nightcap. She also controlled the Concordia offense on the mound. Bye went the first five innings and allowed only one hit while striking out seven. Janet Nagle came in to record the final six outs in the game for the Tommies. Bye earned her 14th win of the season.

Shantelle Nogowski had both the Cobber hits in the second game. She went 2-for-3 and finished the day 3-for-5. She has now hit safely in eight of the past ten games and upper her season average to .338. Reinert and Amanda Michaelson were the only other Cobbers to collect a hit on the day.

Concordia will finish off their home schedule when they play Carleton on Tuesday, Apr. 25 at 4:00. The Cobbers will end the regular season on Saturday, Apr. 29 at Hamline at 1:00pm.