Concordia University St. Paul Athletics

FOLLOW LIVE:  LIVE STATS

ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (19-11, 11-9 NSIC) will play Southwest Minnesota State (17-18, 8-11 NSIC) on Tuesday with an NSIC doubleheader set to begin at 1:30 p.m. at Alumni Field in Marshall, Minn. The games were originally scheduled for Wednesday, however weather forecasts showed Tuesday to be favorable.

It will be Concordia's first-ever trip to Alumni Field, and the Golden Bears have only played two games in Marshall, Minn. back in its first year in the NSIC in the 2000 season at the city field.

NSIC STANDINGS PICTURE
Concordia is in seventh in the standings, but in a three-way virtual tie with Bemidji State (6th, 10-8) and Northern State (8th, 12-10). The three teams also trail Wayne State by just a half game (13-10) for fifth place. The Mustangs enter in ninth place (8-11), a game and a half behind the Concordia/BSU/NSU virtual deadlock.

The positioning becomes increasingly relevant with just 12 scheduled games to play and with the top eight teams making the NSIC Tournament in Sioux Falls, S.D.

RECENT PERFORMANCE
Although Concordia dropped three of four on the weekend at Bemidji State, the club is still 5-5 in road games this season and is 17-11 away from Barnes Field.

The Mustangs enter the doubleheader having lost five straight contests following a five game winning streak. Over the weekend, SMSU played a home/home four game series against Augustana, dropping all four games and dropped the second of a doubleheader last Tuesday at Sioux Falls.

SMSU is 4-3 at home this season and had won four straight at home until the Augustana losses on Saturday.

LAST MEETING
Concordia and SMSU have already met once this year, splitting a pair of 7-inning games in a doubleheader in Tucson, Ariz. on March 14. SMSU won the first game 9-4 behind a complete game from Jimmy Callahan as he improved to 2-0 with a 4.66 ERA. John Hayes took the loss in a complete game in his first appearance. Ryan Poppitz went 3-3 with four RBI and a double in the game. Jordon Kontz and Brandan Alfson each went 2-3 with two RBI and Sam Haas drove in three runs for SMSU. The Mustangs broke a 3-3 tie in the bottom of the fifth inning with six runs.

In the second game, Concordia won 5-4 as Yuji Suzuki pitched into the seventh inning in his first appearance of the year, allowing four runs on five hits with six strikeouts in 6.1 innings. Colton Petron picked up the win in relief. Eric Fasnacht went 3-3 with a double and a triple and Brooks Beilke went 2-4 with a double and two RBI. Fasnacht's three hit game lifted his early season average to .615 following the doubleheader through eight games. Brandan Alfson started and went 4.0 innings, allowing four runs (three earned) on six hits. Hayden Willner took the loss, falling to 1-1 in relief.

WHERE THEY ARE NOW
Fast forward to today, as Hayes is 3-0 in three starts since his season opening loss and holds a 3.86 ERA. He's allowed only three earned runs since that first contest. Suzuki is 2-1 with a 5.33 ERA on the year, making three starts and six relief appearances overall. After starting on Saturday, Suzuki will likely not be available. Hayes has not pitched since last Tuesday, however. Petron has emerged as the team's shutdown reliever with a 1-0 record, two saves in eight appearances. He has a 1.42 ERA in 12.2 innings and has only allowed three hits with 15 strikeouts.

For SMSU, Callahan is 5-0 with a 2.98 ERA in six starts on the year while Alfson is 2-1 with a 4.05 ERA, pitching 20.0 innings in nine appearances but just two starts. Alfson hasn't pitched since a 0.2 inning relief appearance last Tuesday but hasn't started since facing Concordia and leads the bullpen with four saves. Callahan also hasn't pitched since last Tuesday, picking up a win at Sioux Falls in 6.0 innings, allowing two runs. He's pitched into the sixth inning in every start for the Mustangs.

Concordia's offense continues to be led by the same hitters that hurt the Mustangs. Poppitz is hitting .348 while leading the team with 32 RBI and 13 extra base hits (9 2B, 2 3B, 2 HR) while slugging a team-high .518. Fasnacht is second on the team in hitting at .402 while leading the club with a .477 OBP. Beilke's current nine game hitting streak has raised his average from .281 to .371 and he's second on the team with 25 RBI batting in the cleanup spot behind Poppitz and ahead of Fasnacht. The top of the order is led by Kyle Dalton, leading the team with a .431 average and 29 runs scored. Dalton is second on the team in OBP (.473) and slugging (.509).

The Mustangs are led by Patrick Rients, hitting .360 but with 24 extra base hits including 12 home runs and four triples adding up to a .776 slugging percentage and 34 RBI. Austin Stubbs is the leading hitter at .367 with a .437 OBP while Kontz (.344) and Ellis (.333) are the other two hitters above .300 on the year.

SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears are 19-15 all-time against SMSU and 0-2 in games considered away although SMSU's campus field has never hosted Concordia … Concordia has won three of the last four games in the head-to-head series with the Mustangs including this year's doubleheader split in Tucson on March 14