PHOTO GALLERY 1  ||  PHOTO GALLERY 2  ||  photos by Kris Fasnacht

TUCSON, Ariz. - Concordia-St. Paul baseball has extended its hot start to 4-0 with a pair of wins over Malone University (3-10) on Tuesday morning at Kino Sports Complex in the Tucson Invitational. Concordia won by scores of 4-2 and 9-3 in the doubleheader of 7-inning contests.

Junior Kyle Dalton continues to start his 2014 strong, hitting safely in both games to extend his hitting streak to 15 games dating back to the last 11 games of the 2013 season. He also hit his first career home run, a two run inside the park homer to right center in the second game. He's hitting .533 (8-15) with six runs, two steals and a .611 on base percentage early on.

His middle infield mate, sophomore Eric Fasnacht, also continues to hit well as he's hit safely in all four games, going 2-5 with a walk in today's games. He's hitting .583 (7-12) through four games, getting on base at a .667 clip with seven runs scored.

But the starting pitching turned in two more excellent performances as sophomores Zach Rengel and Tyler Brekke pitched all 14 innings today to get the wins. Rengel allowed two unearned runs with three strikeouts, allowing five hits and three walks while Brekke struck out 10 with just two walks, allowing three runs on five hits.

Through the first four games, Concordia is hitting .315 with a .438 team on base percentage to help the team average 7.8 runs per game. On the other side, the pitching staff is holding opponents to a .224 average and a .307 on base percentage for 4.0 runs per game (3.66 team ERA).

Concordia's defense has also allowed half as many errors as the opposition (7-14).

In game one, Concordia scored two runs in the top of the sixth inning to take a 3-1 lead and added an insurance run in the seventh. Seniors Drew Turk and Elliot Powell had the big RBI's in the sixth inning, while Dalton had an RBI single in the seventh to score leadoff batter Tyler Krekling. Krekling went 1-3 with a pair of stolen bases in the game and has scored seven runs with a .529 OBP on the year.

In the second game, Concordia drew 11 walks and had eight hits, along with two hit by pitch to reach base safely 21 times. Dalton and senior Brooks Beilke each had a pair of RBI in the second game while freshman Jake Kounkel had the team's only two hit game, going 2-3. His first career hit was a double in the game.

Concordia will take on Dordt (Iowa) at 3 p.m. (central) in a 9-inning contest at Kino Sports Complex field 3.