ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia University continues their 12-game homestand this afternoon at Barnes Field for a 1:30 p.m. doubleheader against Upper Iowa. It's a critical midseason matchup between a pair of teams that are tied for the all-important sixth spot in the NSIC Standings with identical 8-6 league records. Overall, Concordia is 16-10 and winners of seven of their last 10 games while the Peacocks are 12-17 and are 5-5 in their last 10. Weather calls for clear skies and temperatures warming from the high 40's to the low 50's throughout the games. Fans unable to make it to Barnes Field can follow online, free of charge: LIVE: WATCH | STATS
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Comparison
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CU
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Stats
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UIU
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16-10
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OVR
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12-17
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8-6
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NSIC
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8-6
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NR
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Rank
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NR
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|
9
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Reg
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NR
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|
.339
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AVG
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.279
|
|
.403
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OBP
|
.366
|
|
.469
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SLG
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.344
|
|
61
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2B
|
44
|
|
7
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3B
|
2
|
|
13
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HR
|
4
|
|
13-21
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SB-A
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48-57
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|
5.00
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ERA
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6.22
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|
.280
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OAV
|
.299
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|
5
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SV
|
3
|
|
7.6
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K/9
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6.4
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|
3.4
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BB/9
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5.6
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|
.963
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FLD%
|
.968
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|
18
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DP
|
18
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The matchup is intriguing, as Upper Iowa is one of the most aggressive baserunning teams in the conference, with an exceptional success rate as well. They've stolen 48 bases while being caught just nine times. Meanwhile, Concordia has been excellent at controlling the running game this season. In 26 games, opponents have only tried to steal on the Golden Bears 20 times with a marginal 55% success rate. Senior
Doug Stearns has thrown out eight attempted base stealers, while allowing just seven. Rudy Casillas leads UIU with 17 steals in 18 tries and hits .347 with a .391 OBP. Their top hitter, Tyler Adams, hits .443 with a .496 OBP and has 10 steals in 12 tries.
While the Peacocks have used a form of small ball through aggressive baserunning to score runs, the Golden Bears boast the top average, second ranked slugging and third on base percentage as a team.
For their midweek doubleheader last week, Concordia started junior right hander Zach Goodwin and junior left hander Griff Kilber against #16 Minnesota State. Goodwin threw 4.0 innings and left with the lead, while Kilber threw a complete game, 2-hit shutout in the second game. Both players pitched in the SMSU series, but Kilber only worked 0.2 inning of relief while Goodwin lasted an inning in Saturday's start. Should either or both be unavailable, one candidate who could surface is senior Ben Lemke, who started game three on Saturday but was shelved after an inning due to a 3-hour rain delay.
Concordia is ranked ninth in the NCBWA Central Region Top-10 poll for the second straight week after splitting six games with #16th-ranked Minnesota State and Southwest Minnesota State last week.
