ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul has announced that this weekend's Northern Sun opening weekend series against Minnesota Crookston has been relocated to Veterans Field at Minnetonka High School due to field conditions at Barnes Field.
The four game series featuring Saturday/Sunday doubleheaders will remain the same for start times, with Saturday first pitch at 1:30 p.m. and Sunday at noon. League doubleheaders consist of a 7-inning first game followed by a 9-inning second game. If game one goes into extra innings, game two becomes a 7-inning contest. Game two also features a 10-run rule after 7-innings.
Concordia is 34-6 against Minnesota Crookston with a 31-game winning streak against the Golden Eagles. This will be the first meeting between the clubs at Veterans Field, but the teams have met four times at a neutral site with a 2-2 split record.
The Golden Bears enter conference play with a 2-6 overall record, compiled at the Tucson Invitational Games last week including a 2-5 mark against Division II competition and a 2-4 record against Northern Sun opponents (in non-conference games).
Minnesota Crookston is off to a 6-9 start, coming off of high scoring 12-8 and 25-17 wins over Saint Michaels and Clearwater Christian in their last games of their spring trip to Clearwater, Fla. on Monday and Tuesday.
The Golden Bears are led in hitting by leadoff hitter
Kyle Dalton at .472 (17-36) with eight runs scored, five 3-hit games while hitting safely in the first eight contests and 10 overall dating back to last year. The top slugger so far has been
Eric Fasnacht, typically the fifth hitter in the lineup with a .667 slugging percentage, two doubles and two home runs with 11 RBI.
Connor Olson has been the top breakout hitter, moving into the cleanup role in Arizona while hitting .417 (10-24) with four doubles in six starts while seeing action behind the plate and at designated hitter.
Concordia hit .325 with a .390 on base percentage in eight games in Arizona, but opposing hitters hit .337 and slugged .446 on the week.
Left handed starter
Kody Knaus turned in the top week for the pitching staff, compiling 10 innings with seven strikeouts and a 2.70 earned run average in a pair of no decisions.
Concordia is coming off two strong Northern Sun campaigns, finishing fourth (20-10) last year while setting a program record for conference wins a year after finishing fifth in the league in 2013 (13-7).
