TUCSON, AZ - Concordia-St. Paul (6-2) picked up a split on Friday against Southwest Minnesota State (9-6) at Memorial Stadium in the Tucson Invitational in non-conference play between the NSIC teams. SMSU won the first game 9-4 while Concordia won game two 5-4.

Senior catcher Brooks Beilke hit a walk-off RBI double in the bottom of the seventh with one out in the second game as Concordia picked up the split.

Junior Kyle Dalton and sophomore Eric Fasnacht each hit safely in the doubleheader and have hits in all eight games this season while Dalton extends his hitting streak to 19 games. Fasnacht went 4-6 in the set to raise his average from .600 to .615 after a 3-3 second game that included a double and a triple.

GAME 1: SMSU 9, Concordia 4
Dalton went 2-4 with two runs while Fasnacht went 1-3 with a run as they combined to score three of the team's four runs.

Sophomore Ryan Poppitz went 3-3, knocking in all four Concordia runs. Dalton and Poppitz each drilled their first doubles of the season as well.

SMSU scored a run in the second inning to take the game's first lead with Concordia knotting the game in the top of the third.

But the Mustangs had an answer each time Concordia tied the game, as SMSU scored again in the third to take a 2-1 lead. The Mustangs added another run in the fourth inning before Poppitz hit a two run double in the fifth inning to tie the game at three.

SMSU put the game away with a five run bottom of the fifth inning, however.

Senior right handed starting pitcher John Hayes went the distance in the loss for Concordia, throwing 95 pitches (57 strikes) over 6.0 innings in his season debut. He struck out three and walked one while allowing nine runs on 10 hits.

Jimmy Callahan improved to 2-0 for SMSU, also throwing a complete game as he allowed four runs on nine hits with four strikeouts and three walks while using 110 pitches.

Sam Haas had three RBI while Jordon Kontz and Brandan Alfson each went 2-3 with two RBI to lead the SMSU offense.

GAME 2: Concordia 5, SMSU 4
The Golden Bears fell behind 2-0 as the Mustangs scored a pair in the second inning with the first four batters reaching base in the inning off sophomore right handed starter Yuji Suzuki. But Suzuki settled in and pitched out of the bases loaded jam by inducing a 6-4-3 double play to limit the damage to two runs.

Suzuki then settled into a groove, getting 12 straight outs before working out of a first and second, one out jam in the sixth inning.

Concordia's offense backed him up in the fourth, scoring four runs as the first five batters of the inning hit safely highlighted by back-to-back RBI singles by Beilke and Fasnacht while freshman Jake Kounkel added an RBI grounder.

Suzuki worked into the seventh inning, after throwing just 88 pitches through six frames. After striking out the first batter, Suzuki loaded the bases to end his day after 6.1 innings.

Senior right handed reliever Colton Petron came in with the bases loaded and one out and although he allowed two of Suzuki's runs to score, was able to pitch out of the jam with a tie score.

In the bottom of the seventh, junior Tyler Krekling led off with a single and moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Dalton. The Mustangs intentionally walked Poppitz to face Beilke, who hit the ground rule double to the opposite field in right to win the game.

Petron gets the win, improving to 1-0 as he's thrown 4.1 scoreless innings of relief in two days. Suzuki did not factor into the decision after going 6.1 innings, allowing four runs on five hits with six strikeouts and two walks.

Hayden Willner took the loss for SMSU, falling to 1-1, as he came in for the seventh inning. Brandan Alfson started for the Mustangs, allowing four runs (three earned) over 4.0 innings with four strikeouts while surrendering six Golden Bear hits.

The Golden Bears will face Bemidji State tomorrow at 11 a.m. (central) at Kino Sports Complex field five.