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FAYETTE, Iowa - Concordia-St. Paul (18-14, 11-7 NSIC) veteran right handed starting pitchers
Adam Kramer (Wausau, Wis.) and
Andy Fagely (Mahtomedi, Minn.) each pitched complete games to limit Upper Iowa (14-23, 6-14) to just one run over 16 innings. The Golden Bears won the doubleheader with scores of
5-0 and
2-1 and with the wins and a Sioux Falls loss in the first game of its doubleheader clinched a spot in the 2013 NSIC Baseball Tournament.
The NSIC Tournament bid will be Concordia's first since winning the NSIC Tournament Championship and the auto-bid to the NCAA Central Regional in the 2008 season. That was Concordia's second NSIC Tournament Championship, also capturing the crown in 2003.
The Golden Bears can finish with a winning percentage no less than .550 (11-9) with two losses tomorrow while the ninth place Sioux Falls Cougars can finish no better than .536 (15-13) if they sweep Winona State in Winona, Minn. tomorrow which clinches a top-eight finish. None of the teams ranked 10-to-15 can reach .500.
The current standings have Concordia in fifth place, moving ahead of Wayne State (.600) today as the Wildcats were swept in four games by Augustana over the weekend.
Looking up in the standings, Concordia can't catch fourth place Winona State (15-6), as the Warriors can finish no lower than .652 while Concordia can finish no higher than .650 thus locking the Golden Bears into either the fifth or sixth seed. Concordia and Wayne State can end up tied if Concordia is splits tomorrow, with tie-breakers calculated when all results are reported by league headquarters. Wayne State can move ahead of Concordia if the Golden Bears are swept by the Peacocks.
Tomorrow concludes the regular season with a noon doubleheader for Upper Iowa's senior day at Robertson Woods Field.
GAME 1: Concordia 5, Upper Iowa 0
Junior right hander
Adam Kramer (Wausau, Wis.) pitched his first career shutout, scattering four hits and a walk while striking out six. He improved to 6-1 on the year while lowering his season ERA to 2.28 in his eighth start.
He pitched out of trouble in the second and third innings, leaving a runner on third in the second inning and leaving the bases loaded in the third with a swinging strikeout to retire the side.
After that, no one reached scoring position against him as he cruised to the complete game while retiring the final eight batters he faced.
Concordia provided the only run he'd need in the first at bat of the game as
Trevon Bargfrede (Jackson, Minn.) led off with a solo homer to left. The homer was his third of the year to lead the team, he also added his second double of the year in the game as he went 2-4, scoring a pair of runs from the lead-off spot.
After the solo blast, Concordia left the bases loaded in the first inning and would leave a runner on second base three times until the top of the seventh inning as they clung to a 1-0 lead.
In the seventh, Bargfrede's lead-off double sparked a rally, with
Greg Larpenter (Urbandale, Iowa) hitting a single and stealing second with one out to give Concordia runners on second and third. Senior
Paul Giel (Minnetonka, Minn.) hit a two-run single through the left side and two batters later
Drew Turk (Plainfield, Ill.) added a two-run single up the middle in a four run inning with all four runs crossing the plate with two outs to give Kramer insurance.
Larpenter went 3-4 with three singles, a steal and a run. Turk went 2-4 with two RBI and a steal and Giel was 1-2 with two RBI, a run and reached on a walk and hit by pitch in four plate appearances.
Concordia handed Martin Valdez his first loss of the year, falling to 5-1 for the Peacocks. He struck out eight and walked one but allowed all five runs (four earned) on 10 Concordia hits.
Of Upper Iowa's hits, all were singles as Cody Heiman led the team by going 2-2 in the ninth spot.
GAME 2: Concordia 2, Upper Iowa 1
In the second game, the Golden Bears again wasted no time getting the early lead in a two-run first inning.
Kyle Dalton (Minnetonka, Minn.) started things with a one-out single followed by an RBI double to right center by Larpenter. Bargfrede, now in the clean-up spot, drew a walk and freshman
Ryan Poppitz (Plymouth, Minn.) delivered an RBI single to right to score Larpenter.
Upper Iowa finally broke through to Concordia's pitchers in the bottom of the inning as Tyler Adams led-off with a double down the left field line. He moved up to third and would score on back-to-back ground outs.
The rest of the game, neither team could push a run across despite ample opportunity. Concordia left five runners in scoring position and had a runner picked off second base. Upper Iowa had fewer chances, leaving three runners in scoring position.
Fagely was strong until the end, retiring the final six batters of the game.
He improved to 4-3 on the year, winning his 20th career game while pushing his career innings total to over 240. In the nine inning complete game, Fagely scattered six hits (five singles) and struck out five without issuing any walks. His ERA dropped to a career-low 3.95.
Larpenter had a second-straight multi-hit game, going 2-4 with his eighth double, a run and an RBI. Dalton also had a two-hit game, going 2-5 with a run and his sixth stolen base. Dalton is hitting .336 with Larpenter at .340 in the 2-3 spots in the lineup to lead the Golden Bear offense. Giel went 1-3 with his third double of the year and has lifted his average to .273.
Adams went 2-4 for UIU, the double his fourth of the year while adding his eighth steal. He's hitting .388 from the top of the lineup and had three hits in the doubleheader. Jimmy Pinakidis also had a multi-hit game, going 2-3.
