The jake-'n'-blake 1-2 combination at the top of the golden bear rotation produced excellent results once again, with junior jake schmidt (oakdale, minn.) pitching eight innings with 10 strikeouts in a no decision while sophomore blake devries (eden prairie, minn.) won his fourth striaght start in a complete game win. Concordia university (21-11, 13-7 nsic) split with #18 wayne state (34-8, 20-4) on sunday afternoon, losing 3-2 in nine innings before a 3-1 game two win at the metrodome in minneapolis, minn.

senior first baseman john maciej (elk river, minn.) came up with clutch rbi hits in the fourth inning each game, hitting a game-tying rbi single in the first game to knot the game at two. In the second game, he delivered a two run double to break a scoreless tie, the eventual game-winning hit. He now has 36 rbi on the year, second on the team.

the fielding on both sides was as good as the pitching performances, with each team making numerous diving outfield catches and strong infield plays.

the strong showing in the split for the golden bears against the 18th-ranked wildcats was also an important regional split. Wayne state was ranked no. 2 in the ncaa central region poll while concordia was ranked no. 7. The golden bears turned in a 5-1 record since the poll was released - all regional contests.

game one: wayne state 3, concordia 2 (9 innings)
junior right handed pitcher jake schmidt (oakdale, minn.) struck out 10 through eight strong innings, but the golden bears would surrender an unearned run in the ninth inning to the wildcats in the loss.

both teams missed opportunities prior to the ninth inning, but wayne state capitalized on concordia's only error in the game as junior left handed relief specialist kirk ingram (woodbury, minn.) walked in the game winning run with the bases loaded.

ingram entered the game in a tough spot, as junior right hander ted farni (minnetonka, minn.) relieved schmidt to start the ninth, and loaded the bases, walking one, allowing a hit and allowing another to reach on a fielding error on a sacrifice bunt attempt.

the inning could've been worse, as schmidt made a diving catch in the left centerfield alley that saved a bases clearing extra base hit.

ingram couldn't have pitched much better in his inning of relief, striking out a pair and only surrendering the one walk, unfortunately there was no base to put brian sulzman as the eventual winning run scored.

farni took the loss, falling to 3-1, the only run he allowed was unearned. Schmidt picks up the no decision and now has 70 strikeouts on the season, second most in school history and eight behind dave johnson's 1995 school record of 78.

wayne state jumped out to an early lead when marc manganaro tagged a solo home run down the left field line, just over the 343 sign near the foul pole. Schmidt struck out the other three batters in the first inning.

the wildcats scored again in the fourth when leadoff hitter justin hemauer hit a high fly ball to left field that farni lost in the notorious metrodome roof. Hemauer, hustling on the play, strode in safely for a triple. He scored on manganaro's rbi groundout to give wsc a 2-0 lead.

concordia answered in the bottom of the inning, scoring a pair of unearned runs off of starter mitch herrick.

after senior second baseman jake waldman (minnetonka, minn.) led off with a line out to left, junior catcher chris herbert (white bear lake, minn.) reached on a fielding error by wsc third baseman alex koch.

he scored on the next at bat as junior right fielder brenden furrow (johnston, iowa) drilled a double to left field, extending his hitting streak to eight games and knocking in his 41st run.

furrow came across the plate with two outs when senior first baseman john maciej (elk river, minn.) delivered an rbi single to left to tie the game at two.

the score remained knotted as schmidt and herrick eached worked 1-2-3 fifth innings.

the wildcats threatened in the sixth with a leadoff single by sulzman. However, they were unable to advance him on the sacrifice bunt attempt by sean soderberg, as sulzman was gunned down by schmidt at second base.

schmidt hit the next batter, and managanaro reached with a single that fell out of the glove of the diving centerfielder, joe abellera (sr., minnetonka, minn.). Abellera was able to hold the runner on third on the play, however, keeping the score tied.

schmidt forced a pop out to waldman and a pop out back to the mound to retire the side and the wildcat threat, stranding the bases loaded.

in the bottom of the inning, concordia threatened to score the go-ahead run when waldman led off with a single up the middle and advanced to second on herbert's sacrifice bunt.

with a runner in scoring position, the wildcats went to the bullpen, bringing out nick schumacher, who struck out furrow swinging.

junior third baseman zane froelich (sioux falls, s.d.) delivered a single to third base, but maciej struck out with first and third to end the inning.

froelich's hit was the only hit cu managed off schumacher, who went 3.2 innings of one-hit ball with six strikeouts. He struck out the side in the seventh. The only other player to reach base was herbert, who was hit by a pitch in the eighth with two outs, but he did not advance.

schumacher picked up the win and improved to 10-1.

concordia had only five hits in the nine inning game, while wayne state didn't fare much better with six. The wildcats left seven runners on to concordia's five. No one for concordia had a multi-hit game and they didn't draw any walks against wsc.

the loss snapped a five game winning streak for cu and extended wayne state's to nine games.

game two: cu 3, wayne state 1
in game two, sophomore blake devries was in control, scattering five hits and one walk in seven strong innings to win his fourth straight start and notch his fifth straight quality start (at least 6 ip and allow 3 er or less).

devries struck out three batters, all in the first two innings as he established his presence. He only needed 90 pitches in the win. He has lowered his era to 4.61 on the season.

he retired the first six batters of the game before allowing a leadoff single in the third to josh nielsen, who was stranded at third.

in the fourth, devries issued his only walk to marc manganaro, who stole second but was left on second.

in the bottom of the fourth, chris herbert led off with a single to left field. brenden furrow was hit by a pitch, giving cu runners on first and second before a sacrifice bunt by zane froelich moved the runners up a base.

with runners on second and third and one out, john maciej delivered the go-ahead hit, a two run double down the left field line. jake schmidt reached on a throwing error by alex koch, pulling manganaro off first base, giving cu runners on first and second, still with one out.

senior shortstop derek mason (minnetonka, minn.) delivered a single to left to load the bases and ted farni grounded into a fielder's choice to drive in maciej.

the big inning forced wayne state starter john snyder from the game with just one out. He allowed all three runs, two were earned, on four hits. Chris moreland relieved snyder and pitched 2.2 shutout innings, allowing one hit while striking out three. He allowed a runner to get to second in the fifth and sixth innings but worked out of the jams.

concordia and wayne state each had five hits in the game, and for the second straight game no concordia player had more than one hit. Josh nielsen was 3-3 for wayne state but all three hits were singles.

furrow's hitting streak ended at eight games as he went 0-1 with a run scored in the second game.

with six nsic games to play, concordia is three games behind upper iowa, but six games back in the win column. Cu is 13-7 while uiu is 19-7 in league play in the race for second. Wayne state, meanwhile, is 20-4 and is closing in on clinching the regular season title.

concordia returns to action on wednesday, april 30 when they host winona state at 2 p.m. At barnes field for an nsic doubleheader before closing out the regular season next weekend hosting northern state for a four game series.