PHOTO GALLERY (by Kris Fasnacht)

TUCSON, Ariz. - The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team continued its hot start in record setting fashion on Wednesday afternoon at the Tucson Invitational. The Golden Bears defeated Dordt (6-3) 18-6 to improve to 5-0 on the young season.

Concordia drew a school record 19 walks led by senior Elliot Powell's five which is the most known in a single game by one player in program history. The Golden Bears also tallied 18 hits and were hit by pitch twice to get on base 39 times. Even after scoring 16 runs, Concordia left 21 on base in the 9-inning affair, also believed to be a school record.

In the last two games, Concordia has drawn 30 walks as a team and have four regulars with at least a .533 on base percentage on the season. The team on base percentage is at .484 through five games.

Making their collegiate debuts on the mound were freshmen Josh Lenz and Erick Kivi for the win-save combination.

Lenz went the first 6.0 innings, striking out seven while allowing two runs on four hits with four walks. Kivi worked scoreless seventh and eighth innings before a four run ninth to end the game.

Junior Kyle Dalton extended his hitting streak to 16 games by going 3-5 with five RBI along with a walk and his third stolen base. He increased his early season average to a torrid .550.

Leadoff hitter Tyler Krekling went 4-6 with four RBI and a walk to increase his average to .474 and ninth batter Eric Fasnacht went 2-5 and is hitting .529.

The trio, hitting 9-1-2 in the lineup, have all hit safely in all five games as well.

Powell, the fifth hitter in the order, went 1-1 with two runs and an RBI in addition to his five walks. He's drawn 10 walks in five games and has a .609 on base percentage without striking out.

Of the 18 hits, the lone extra base hit was a two-run triple by Ryan Poppitz as he went 2-6 in the contest.

The 7-8 spots in the lineup also produced 3-hit efforts as Doug Vanasek went 3-4 with two runs and two RBI in his first start and David Henke went 3-5 with two runs and two RBI while handling the catching duties behind the plate.

Concordia returns to the diamond tomorrow at 3 p.m. (central) against Northern State for a non-conference contest against the NSIC member Wolves. The Golden Bears' next four games will be against Northern Sun opponents.