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ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, the Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (16-14, 9-7 NSIC) will conclude the regular season with a four game series at Upper Iowa (13-20, 5-11). The series has been moved back a day due to poor weather this week, and will be played Saturday at 2 p.m. and Sunday at noon in Fayette, Iowa.
POSTSEASON IMPLICATIONS
This weekend, Concordia enters play with a .563 winning percentage in the NSIC and in sixth place in the league standings. The top eight teams in the NSIC Standings at the end of the regular season (by percentage) reach the NSIC Tournament for a chance to compete for the league's automatic berth to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. Like Concordia, Minnesota Duluth (11-9) and Bemidji State (12-10) are each two games over .500 and in seventh and eighth, respectively. Sioux Falls is in ninth with a 13-13 record.
Here's a breakdown of where each team stands entering the season's final regular season weekend:
6. Concordia, 9-7 (.563) - at 12. Upper Iowa (5-11, .313)
7. Minn. Duluth, 11-9 (.550) - at 13. Northern State (7-17, .292)
8. Bemidji State, 12-10 (.545) - host 1. St. Cloud State (16-2, .889)
9. Sioux Falls, 12-12 (.500) - at 3. Winona State (14-5, .737)
SERIES HISTORY:
Concordia 11, Upper Iowa 10
Concordia is 11-10 all-time against the Peacocks and 6-5 on the road in Fayette, Iowa … Concordia is 7-5 against UIU in conference games and is 7-4 in the last 11 games against UIU … this will be Concordia's second trip to Fayette this season, playing Winona State on UIU's field earlier in the season in a four game split.
PLAYER SPOTLIGHT: #31 Tyler Brekke (RHP, 6-2, 205, R-Fr., Lakeville, Minn.)
After missing most of his true freshman season with an injury, Brekke entered the year healthy and was a major piece of the bullpen early on with three saves in his first five appearances. None of those appearances last longer than an inning. That changed last week in his first start against Southwest Minnesota State. Brekke pitched into the ninth inning, allowing two earned runs on seven hits while striking out four in 8.1 innings. He picked up a one inning save against Sioux Falls on Monday before getting his second start yesterday at #12 Minnesota State. In the start, Brekke worked into the eighth inning, allowing three runs (two earned) on six hits with two strikeouts and one walk. In the last week, Brekke has pitched 16.2 innings with a 2.20 earned run average, allowing 14 hits and one walk for a sub 1.00 WHIP. On the year, he's 0-1 with four saves in eight appearances with two starts. He's allowed only 15 hits and four walks in 21.1 innings.
PROJECTED ROTATION*
With an extra day of rest this week because the Minnesota State doubleheader was moved up to Tuesday and the UIU series was moved back to Saturday, the Golden Bears could trot out their four most effective arms as of late.
Game 1: Adam Kramer (RHP, 5-1, 2.68 ERA, 7 GS, 40.1 IP, 30-14 K-BB, .207 oav)
Game 2: Andy Fagely (RHP, 3-3, 4.50 ERA, 8 GS, 48.0 IP, 33-9 K-BB, .315 oav)
Game 3: Zach Rengel (LHP, 3-3, 2.80 ERA, 7 GS, 35.1 IP, 41-16 K-BB, .200 oav)
Game 4: Tyler Brekke (RHP, 0-1, 2.11 ERA, 2 GS, 21.1 IP, 11-4 K-BB, .197 oav)
* - the team does not announce projected starting pitching plans, other candidates for a start include
Griff Kilber (LHP, 0-1, 2.11 ERA, 1 GS),
John Hayes (RHP, 1-2, 6.00 ERA, 4 GS)
BULLPEN NOTES
Depending on what happens with the starting pitchers, senior left hander
Griff Kilber (0-1, 2.11 ERA, 2 saves) and sophomore right hander
Adam Fredericks (1-0, 6.00 ERA, 2 saves) have been pitching in prominent late inning roles as of late. Also expect to see
Colton Petron (3-1, 5.87 ERA). All three pitchers have made eight relief appearances to lead the team, while
Tyler Brekke (0-1, 2.11 ERA, 4 saves) leads the bullpen in saves in his six relief appearances.
LARPENTER'S STREAKS END:
Concordia center fielder
Greg Larpenter reached base in the first 28 games of the season, either getting a hit, walk or hit by pitch as his on-base percentage hovered near .500 following the Sioux Falls series. On Tuesday at Minnesota State, Larpenter went 0-4 in each game without reaching base as his impressive streak to start the season came to a close. He leads the team in doubles (7), home runs (2), RBI (15), on-base (.455) and slugging (.483) among players who qualify for the league batting title (2.5 plate appearances per team game).
STRONG UP THE MIDDLE:
Larpenter anchors the defense with his gold glove in center field, but there are a pair of young middle infielders who have been tremendous defensively this season as well. The double-play combination of
Kyle Dalton at second, and
Eric Fasnacht at short have helped the Golden Bears excel up the middle. Dalton has not committed an error in 106 chances while Fasnacht's .958 fielding percentage is tremendous for Division II shortstops. Fasnacht has been part of 14 double plays while Dalton has been in on 10. The defensive infield is solid all-around, with sure-handed
Elliot Powell at first and strong-armed
Ryan Poppitz at the hot corner. The defensive outfield has also been tremendous with
Drew Turk/
Trevon Bargfrede in left, and
Paul Giel/
Trevon Bargfrede in right. The outfield has produced eight assists, led by Larpenter's four.
