KEY LINKS: VETERANS FIELD WEBSITE || DIRECTIONS || GAME COVERAGE: LIVE STATS || WATCH LIVE
ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (12-10, 5-5 NSIC) heads to Minnetonka's Veterans Field to take on Southwest Minnesota State (10-20-1, 5-11) for a conference doubleheader on Thursday morning at 9 a.m.
LAST TIME OUT
Concordia-St. Paul used a four run fifth inning to defeat #9 St. Cloud State 4-2 in the first game of an NSIC doubleheader played at Metrodome on late Sunday afternoon. In the second game, the Huskies defeated Concordia 11-1 to snap their three-game losing streak.
RECORDS, RANKINGS and STANDINGS
The Golden Bears are 12-10 overall and 5-5 in the Northern Sun and in a three-way tie for sixth with Sioux Falls and Minnesota Duluth. SMSU is 10-20-1 overall and 5-11 in the conference in 13th in the NSIC.
ABOUT VETERANS FIELD
Veterans Field was voted by ESPN as the #2 high school field in the country and is the only high school TURF field in the state. The complex is made of a synthetic turf playing sufrace with lights and a 600-seat grandstand. Naming rights to Veterans Field were purchased by Cambria, a Minnesota company, who chose to name the field to honor all Veterans instead of naming the field after the company name. Veterans Field is home to the Minnetonka Skippers high school teams, Excelsior Legion baseball teams, Maynard's Mudhens, senior Babe Ruth teams, Minnetonka Millers and the Minnetonka youth football program.
LUNCH LOOKS TO BECOME Mr. 300
Concordia head coach
Mark “Lunch” McKenzie is just one win shy of 300 for his career with a 299-234-1 overall record in his 14th season.
RAIN OUTS & SNOW OUTS
Concordia's baseball team has had 12 games officially canceled - all during conference play - and two others suspended at the Metrodome and yet to be completed.
SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears are 16-14 all-time against the Mustangs with Southwest Minnesota State taking the last three over the Golden Bears. The Bears and Mustangs played a non-conference doubleheader back on Feb. 27
th, with SMSU taking game one 8-7 with a late comeback. Game two was postponed due to a time limit. Concordia led that game 3-1 in the sixth. These two teams have gotten very familiar with each other over the last two seasons, facing off 10 times before Thursday's matchup. The Bears have gone 5-4 with the other game being suspended.
GOLDEN BEAR SPOTLIGHT, #19 Andy Fagely (Mahtomedi, Minn., Mahtomedi HS)
Fagely has been a mainstay in the Golden Bears rotation over the last four seasons and has enjoyed a career year so far in his senior campaign. His has gone 3-2 with a solid 3.46 ERA and 30 strikeouts over a team leading 41.2 innings. He has consistently pitched deep into ballgames, completing six or more innings in five of his seven starts. Fagely has climbed into the top ten in school history in most major pitching categories, including wins, strikeouts, innings pitched and walks per nine innings and has a chance to move up even more in his last few starts of the season. He ranks fifth in innings pitched, but is only eight innings away from passing Dave Johnson, Greg Fruetel and Jake Schmidt. He is also one win away from reaching his 20
th career win, matching Nick Anderson for 7
th all-time. One of Fagely's biggest strengths for the Bears has been his ability to pound the strike zone. He has only walked 1.99 batters per nine innings, ranking third in school history.
