NSIC LINKS: WATCH LIVE || LIVE STATS || TOURNAMENT WEBSITE || BRACKET || TICKETS || DIRECTIONS
ST. PAUL, Minn. - For the first time since winning the 2008 NSIC Tournament, the No. 5 seed Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (20-14) heads back to the conference tournament this Wednesday, playing No. 4 seed Winona State (22-15) at 11 a.m. at Dick Putz Field in St. Cloud, Minn.
Tickets for the NSIC Tournament are $10 for adults, $5 for children, students and seniors. They can be purchased
online or on gameday at the gate. Admission is purchased for each day, a bracelet will provide access to both fields: Joe Faber Field and Dick Putz Field.
The winner of the Concordia/Winona State matchup will face the No. 1 St. Cloud State / No. 8 Bemidji State winner at 2 p.m. on Thursday, May 9 at Faber Field; while the losing team of the two contests will play an elimination game on Wednesday at 7 p.m. at Faber Field.
Concordia and Winona State are familiar with each other, having already played six games during the season with Concordia winning the season series 4-2. The
Golden Bears swept WSU in a non-conference doubleheader at the Metrodome on March 16 (
4-1 &
3-1).
The teams met for a four game weekend series in NSIC action on April 6-7 at Robertson Woods Field in Fayette, Iowa with the teams splitting. Concordia won the first and third games of the series (
9-6 &
2-1) while WSU won the second and fourth games (
5-11 &
2-4).
HEAD-TO-HEAD SERIES STATS: CONCORDIA || WINONA STATE
In the six game season series,
Greg Larpenter (Urbandale, Iowa) hit .412/.524/.588 (7-17) with three doubles and three RBI, also drawing two walks and two hit by pitch.
Ryan Poppitz (Plymouth, Minn.) provided the power with a double, two homers and six RBI while showing a .286/.286/.619 slash line (6-21).
Eric Fasnacht (Eden Prairie, Minn.) added a .316/.381/.421 line (6-19) with a triple and three RBI while
Drew Turk (Plainfield, Ill.) reached base at a .400 clip. Despite starting just one of the six games,
Trevon Bargfrede (Jackson, Minn.) showed a .556/.556/1.000 slash (5-9) while playing in five of the games, adding a double, home run and four runs scored.
Concordia's top pitcher against Winona State was
Zach Rengel (Fergus Falls, Minn.), striking out nine in a complete game (7 IP), allowing one run on two hits for the win in his lone start.
Adam Kramer (Wausau, Wis.) and
Andy Fagely (Mahtomedi, Minn.) have each faced the Warriors twice, with Kramer posting a 2-0 record in 10.1 innings with a 4.35 ERA and 12 strikeouts in 10.1 innings. Fagely has a 1-1 mark against WSU with a 3.00 ERA in 9.0 innings in his two starts.
Concordia holds a .267/.351/.378 hitting line against the Warriors, while WSU counters with a .248/.374/.447 in the six games.
Winona State counters with two pitchers that have started twice against Concordia, Jay Voter (1-1, 2.00 ERA, 9 IP, 8-2 K-BB) and Chase Blazier (1-1, 4.26 ERA, 12.2 IP, 2-3 K-BB). Will Lindquist appeared in three games in relief as well (0-0, 2 Sv, 4.91 ERA, 7.1 IP, 7-1 K-BB).
Cody Strang has been the top Warrior hitter, hitting .500/.611/1.214 with three home runs and five RBI. Seth McMullen has also been strong, hitting .412/.545/1.000 with four doubles, two home runs, six RBI and eight runs scored although he has committed four errors at short. Derek Wojcik adds a .389/.522/.722 line with two home runs against the Golden Bears.
TOURNAMENT HISTORY
The Golden Bears have captured two NSIC Championships, in 2003 and in 2008. The 2008 title, which was also Concordia's last appearance, earned the automatic bid to the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament. Concordia has faced Winona State three times in the NSIC Tournament, in three consecutive years: 2005, 2006 and 2007. The Warriors took the 2005 (8-9) and 2007 (6-11) games, with Concordia winning the 2006 (19-4) meeting.
2008: 3-0,
champions (W 2-1 vs SMSU | W 8-2 vs BSU | W 10-6 vs Wayne St)
2007: 1-2 (W 9-6 vs Wayne St | L 6-11 vs Winona St | L, 7-10 vs Wayne St)
2006: 2-2 (W 19-4 vs Winona St | L 12-14 vs Wayne St | W 7-4 vs SMSU | L 7-22 vs Wayne St)
2005: 0-2 (L 9-13 vs SMSU | L 8-9 vs Winona St)
2003: 2-1,
champions (W 6-1 vs SMSU | L 3-4 Wayne St | W 8-6 vs UMD)
Total: 8-7, two championships
