auburndale, fla. - concordia university's 2011 opening day seemed to be going smoothly as they led 8-1 into the ninth inning against 15th-ranked west chester (pa.) university at lake myrtle park field 3. But they couldn't hold the lead as the game went into extra innings with concordia losing 10-9 in the 10th inning in their season opener.

junior right hander ben lemke (rosemount, minn.) was outstanding for the golden bears, pitching six strong innings as he allowed one run on five hits with seven strikeouts while walking just one and leaving the game as the pitcher of record with the lead.

lemke also delivered at the plate on his own behalf, going 2-3 with a pair of rbi.

also producing two rbi performances at the plate were senior jon stockton (oakdale, minn.) and junior bryan lippincott (des moines, iowa) as they were both 2-5 at the plate.

both teams were playing in their season opener, with west chester coming off of an ncaa regional tournament appearance where they went 3-2 and finished the season 39-14. Concordia finished last season 23-29.

the golden bears return to action tomorrow for a nine-inning affair against another ncaa regional tournament competitor, ashland university (ohio). First pitch is scheduled for 3:30 p.m. With concordia taking the field as the home team.

game statistics will be posted tomorrow afternoon.