St. Cloud, Minn. - The Concordia University baseball team (18-15, 12-12 nsic) went on the road for the last time in 2011 in hostile territory in front of over 400 opposing fans against #13 St. Cloud State (37-8, 25-6 nsic) for the Fill Faber Field promotion. The visiting Golden Bears went to-to-toe with the top ranked team in the ncaa's central region, but were unable to execute late offensively in each game while the Huskies produced a 5-run inning in game one and a 4-run inning in game two for the doubleheader sweep. game 1 box | game 2 box

Concordia left 27 runners on base combined in the two games, a 7-inning first game with 11 lob and a 9-inning second game with 16 lob. They hit 11-43 (.256) with runners on and 7-24 (.292) in rbi opportunities in the two games.

St. Cloud State scored five runs in the fifth inning to take a 7-3 lead late and came out with a four run first inning in game two in a 3-run victory.

In the first game, Concordia's leadoff batters never reached base in seven innings of play and they went 4-15 (.267) at the plate with runners on base, stranding five runners in scoring position in the loss.

They led in the early innings, scoring first in the top of the first, again in the third and once more in the fifth innings. Each time Concordia scored, scsu countered to tie the game, scoring a run in the bottom of the first and a run in the bottom of the fourth.

They jumped out in front big in the fifth inning, scoring five times with the first two coming on a go-ahead two run home run by Jordan Smith on a pitch low and out of the zone that barely cleared the right field fence but put the Huskies ahead 4-3. They knocked starter Chris Peterson (jr., rhp, St. Anthony, Minn.) out of the game in the inning and scored three more times - all charged to Peterson who had been effective prior to the fifth inning.

Senior Sam Fagely (Mahtomedi, Minn.) went 3-3 with a pair of rbi singles while also walking once. He added a hit in the second game for 100 career base hits.

Junior third baseman Bryan Lippincott (Des Moines, Iowa) went 2-4 with his 17th double and a pair of runs scored to momentarily increase his average to .457. But an 0-5 performance in game two, just his third hitless game of the 2011 season, would drop him to .439.

Senior Jon Stockton (Oakdale, Minn.) went 1-3 while drawing his 99th career walk. He was 1-4 with this 100th career walk in game two.

Peterson took the loss, falling to 3-3 on the year while he was relieved by senior Nick Anderson (Plymouth, Minn.) who pitched the final 1.2 innings, striking out three.

In game two, the production at the plate went downhill for the Golden Bears, who found themselves in a 0-4 hole after the first inning of play.

But still, they clawed their way back into the game thanks to sophomore right hander Andy Fagely (Mahtomedi, Minn.) collecting his composure to shut down the potent Husky lineup.

He retired the Huskies in order in the second inning and worked out of a 2nd and 3rd, no outs jam in the third to keep the score in tact. He retired 14 of the next 15 hitters, getting scsu in order for five consecutive innings as his only blemish during the stretch was a leadoff walk in the fourth inning that he worked around by inducing a double play.

His rebound on the mound helped Concordia stay in the game to get the bats back involved.

And his rebound was even more important as to the team as the offense didn't get a runner into scoring position until there were two outs in the fourth inning, but they stranded runners on 2nd and 3rd and would do the same in the fifth inning.

They finally scored in the sixth with a bases loaded rbi walk to their ninth hitter, sophomore second baseman J.T. Schneider (Oak Creek, Wis.) but left the bases jammed with only one run coming across.

In the seventh, junior catcher Doug Stearns (Minnetonka, Minn.) came up with a big two run single with two outs to bring the Golden Bears within a run, 4-3, but they stranded runners on 1st and 2nd to end the threat.

They left the bases loaded in the top of the eighth and the Huskies added two insurance runs in the bottom of the inning to grab a 3-run lead entering the final frame.

In the ninth, Concordia got a leadoff double and a single, but left the two runners on 1st and 2nd as the last three hitters were punched out swinging to end the game.

In the second game, Concordia was just 7-28 (.250) with runners on and 4-15 (.267) in rbi opportunities as they squandered major scoring chances in the slim loss.

It's been a key for the Golden Bears this year. While they've won their fare share of close games, and are solid in extra inning affairs, they've also left plenty of scoring chances on the bases in key games against Wayne State, Minnesota Duluth on tuesday and now St. Cloud State this afternoon.

But they'll have a chance to recover with their home finale at Barnes Field against the Huskies tomorrow at noon. If they win two games, they clinch a spot in the nsic tournament. If they don't, they'll need some help around the league, but they control their own destiny entering the season's final day in another heated playoff drive!

Concordia's 6-7 hitters did their damage in game two led by junior dh Logan Bouts (Hopkins, Minn.) who was 4-4 with a pair of doubles while stearns followed with a 3-5, two rbi effort.

But CU's 1-5 hitters were just 3-22 at the plate and combined to leave 11 runners on base.

A.Fagely went the distance, falling to 3-4 on the year.

The Golden Bears enter tomorrow's season finale doubleheader having forced scsu to use their bullpen. The Huskies used four pitchers in each game, using one of them (Chris Kubitz) twice and another of their top starters (Logan Birr) in relief as well. Concordia used only three pitchers in the entire 16 innings of play, setting themselves up for solid depth tomorrow.

Husky closer Ryan Schwenke struck out six batters in seven outs (2.1 innings) for his seventh save despite getting tagged for four hits and three walks in his short stint.