Concordia University St. Paul Athletics

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ST. PAUL, Minn. - This Friday and Saturday, the Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (18-8, 10-6 NSIC) brings a six game winning streak to Bemidji State (13-14, 7-7 NSIC) at BSU Baseball Field as the Northern Sun schedule advances to the season's second half.

Concordia's winning streak is the fifth longest streak in the league and has vaulted the team into fifth in the NSIC standings, a game behind Northern State and a half game ahead of Winona State. The league standings remain close in the middle, however, as BSU at 7-7 is in eighth, a half game out of seventh (SMSU) and half game ahead of ninth (Wayne State).

During Concordia's winning streak, the starting pitching and pitching staff as a whole have been outstanding. Concordia has held opponents to two runs or less in all six games while winning each contest by three runs or more.

WINNING STREAK STARTING PITCHING:
Apr. 7, at Winona State, Game 1: Tyler Brekke (7.0 IP, CG, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 3 SO, 0 BB, 69 NP)
Apr. 7, at Winona State, Game 2: John Hayes (7.0 IP, 2 R, 2 ER, 7 H, 2 SO, 2 BB, 98 NP)
Apr. 12, at Minot State, Game 1: Adam Kramer (5.1 IP, 2 R, 0 ER, 4 H, 2 BB, 3 SO, 81 NP)
Apr. 12, at Minot State, Game 2: Zach Rengel (6.0 IP, 1 R, 1 ER, 5 H, 1 BB, 2 SO, 90 NP)
Apr. 15, vs Minn. Crookston, Game 1: Kevin Woebke (7.0 IP, CG, 0 R, 0 ER, 6 H, 1 BB, 7 SO, 85 NP)
Apr. 15, vs Minn. Crookston, Game 2: John Hayes (7.0 IP, CG, 1 R, 1 ER, 4 H, 1 BB, 4 SO, 82 NP)

Five different starters have pitched during the winning streak with only John Hayes starting twice. The pitchers have also recorded the decision in each of the victories.

NSIC TEAM HITTING RANKINGS
The Golden Bears are fourth in the NSIC in hitting (.307) and on base percentage (.392) while Bemidji State is 12th in hitting (.272) and 10th in OBP (.350). Concordia's patient approach has led to the league lead in walks (4.1/game) while Bemidji State is in fifth (3.5). Concordia also doesn't strike out frequently, being the third toughest team to strikeout in the league (4.8/game) while BSU is slightly tougher to K (4.74).

It adds up to Concordia ranking fourth in the league in scoring (6.2 runs/game) while Bemidji State is 11th (4.4).

NSIC TEAM PITCHING RANKINGS
Concordia's offense has been the perfect counterpart for the strong pitching staff. The Golden Bears rank second in the league in ERA (3.32), fourth in opponent average (.247), and fifth in walks allowed (3.1/game). Additionally, the staff doesn't allow extra base hits, ranking fourth in fewest doubles allowed (1.6/game), first in triples (0.04) and third in home runs (0.22).

In the other other dugout, Bemidji State is 13th in ERA (6.58), 12th in opponent average (.327) and 14th in walks (4.4/game). The Beavers are also more prone to allowing extra base hits, surrendering 2.4 doubles (12th), 0.37 triples (9th) and 0.41 homers (9th) per game.

NSIC TEAM DEFENSIVE RANKINGS
The Golden Bears have been sure handed with the gloves this year, ranking third in the league with a .968 team fielding percentage while Bemidji State is ninth at .954. Concordia leads the league in double plays with 30 while BSU has turned 21 (7th). Controlling the running game has also been a big factor for Concordia led by senior backstop Brooks Beilke, Concordia has allowed the fewest stolen bases against (14) while being run on the least often as teams have only attempted to steal 23 times. Concordia throwing out nine base stealers ranks 11th, as well. Bemidji State has allowed the fourth most stolen bases (33) while throwing out 11 runners (t6th) and being run on the third most frequently with 44 stolen base attempts against. Additionally, Concordia has only one passed ball on the season.

NSIC INDIVIDUAL HITTING NOTES
Concordia features the league's third and fifth leading hitters, led by junior Kyle Dalton (.431) followed by sophomore Eric Fasnacht (.425). Fasnacht is fifth in the league in OBP (.495) while Dalton is eighth (.474). Dalton's 1.69 hits per game ranks second in the Northern Sun and his 1.0 runs per game ranks sixth. Sophomore Ryan Poppitz is second in the league with 1.12 RBI per game and senior Elliot Powell is fourth in the league with 0.64 walks per game. Poppitz and Powell are also the fifth toughest players to strikeout in the NSIC, with just 0.24 strikeouts per game.

NSIC INDIVIDUAL PITCHING NOTES
The Golden Bears are led by the NSIC's ERA leader, sophomore southpaw Zach Rengel at 1.25 with the next contender at 1.69. Concordia has three of the top-20 ERA leaders with senior Adam Kramer (2.72) in 10th and senior John Hayes (3.86) in 18th. Rengel is also ninth in opponent batting average (.227) while Hayes is 12th (.252). All three pitchers rank in the league's top eight in innings per game, working at least 6.0 or more apiece led by Hayes at 7.0 in second in the league.

BSU INDIVIDUAL LEADERS
Bemidji State is led by Zach Braun with a .330/.392/.489 line with five doubles, three home runs and 28 RBI in 27 games played. Two others are hitting above .300 for BSU, Joey Hanowski (.313) and Tyler Nelson (.307) while only Braun is slugging over .400 for the team.

The Bemidji State pitching staff features four starters who have combined to start 21 of the team's 27 games. Tyler Saeugling leads the staff with a 4.21 ERA and three complete games among his six starts (seven appearances) with a staff high 36.1 innings adn 29 strikeouts. Terry Hadden's 3-2 record leads the staff, while his 5.58 ERA is second as are his 30.2 innings pitched. Nate Heisick is the top reliever out of the bullpen with a 3-2 record and a save in 10 appearances with a 8.31 ERA, striking out 21 in 21.2 innings with just seven walks. The closer is Drake Huggans with five saves in eight appearances. He's struck out 11 in 8.0 innings with a 5.62 ERA and an 0-1 record although he's walked seven and allowed 11 hits (.333 oav).

BSU NOTES
The Beavers have lost four straight games, dropping two midweek games at Minnesota State (4-7, 0-8) after dropping a doubleheader to Winona State last Saturday at home (2-5, 0-16). Prior to that, the Beavers had won five straight including a doubleheader sweep of Wayne State and three straight games against U-Mary to close a four game series in Bismarck. Since a 3-7 start to the season which including a 20-3 loss to close a six game losing streak, the Beavers are 10-7.