MANKATO, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (15-15, 13-9 NSIC) dropped a 1-0 heart-breaker to open its four game series at #5 Minnesota State (27-4, 17-3 NSIC) on Friday afternoon at MSU Baseball Complex. The Mavericks would win game two 10-0 in a shortened seven inning contest due to the margin. The Mavericks extended their winning streak to 10 games with the doubleheader sweep.

The teams will complete the four game series with a noon doubleheader tomorrow. The forecast predicts temperatures similar to today's in the low to mid 70's but coming with a 40 percent chance of rain later in the day with winds picking up into the 15-to-25 mile per hour range after today's more calm 10 mph.

GAME 1: Minnesota State 1, Concordia 0
The Mavericks entered the series leading the nation in hitting (.366), sixth in on base (.435) and sixth in slugging (.547) while slugging the fourth most doubles per contest (2.62) and scoring the seventh most runs per game (9.1).

The Golden Bears countered with staff ace Zach Rengel, a junior left handed pitcher in his third year in the rotation while being backed by an infield that ranked 13th in the country in double plays, turning an average of over one per game.

The high powered offense and Rengel collided with full force in game one, with the Mavericks delivering eight hits including three doubles off Rengel. But Concordia's game one weekend starter was able to eliminate the Maverick threats throughout the contest as MSU went 2-11 in RBI opportunities and 3-14 with runners on base in the game en route to leaving 10 on base.

Concordia's offense wasn't able to get going against MSU game one starter Brody Rodning, however with just two hits. When Eric Fasnacht delivered a one out single in the second inning and was stranded to end the inning as he was erased on a fielder's choice grounder to end the frame, Concordia didn't get a baserunner until the seventh inning.

Rodning retired 14-straight Golden Bears to keep the game scoreless in a duel with Rengel.

Rengel would also settle into a mid-game groove, getting eight straight Mavericks out from the fourth through sixth innings although he stranded a runner on third in the fourth and second in the sixth.

In the seventh inning, Tyler Krekling led off with a single to left field and moved up to second base on a sacrifice by Andrew Shotwell. Connor Olson advanced him to third with a grounder to second base for Concordia's RBI leader Fasnacht, but Rodning was able to get the strikeout to end Concordia's only threat with a runner in scoring position in the game.

In the bottom of the inning, Josh Wenzel led off with a double and advanced to third on Kevin Kramer's bunt single. After an intentional walk (Rengel's only free pass of the day), the Mavericks loaded the bases with no outs. Rengel forced Connor McCallum to fly out to right field before Max Waletich drove in the game winning run on a single to right.

Rengel went the distance, allowing just one run on eight hits with four strikeouts and a walk in a clutch performance on 95 pitches, falling to 3-2 with the loss.

Rodning improved to 6-0 for MSU with the two-hit shutout, striking out five on 86 pitches.

Waletich was the only player with a multi-hit game on the day, going 2-4 as seven Maverick players had a hit in the contest. Krekling and Fasnacht went 1-3 for Concordia.

The Golden Bears fall to 4-4 in one-run games and 7-3 when holding the opposition to 0-to-2 runs.

GAME 2: Minnesota State 10, Concordia 0 (7)
After getting two hits and forcing just 86 pitches in the first game against MSU starter Brody Rodning, the Golden Bears tried a more patient approach in game two at the plate.

Senior Kyle Dalton executed with a walk to open the game, but was erased on an inning ending 6-4-3 double play.

In the bottom of the inning, MSU matched Concordia with a leadoff walk but moved the runner to second on a sacrifice and scored on a one out RBI single by Max Waletich before lining into an inning ending double play to Ryan Poppitz at third base.

In the second, Connor Olson led off with a single but was unable to move up and in the third David Henke was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning and advanced to second on an Alex LaPorte sacrifice but was left in scoring position as MSU starter Dalton Roach struck out the next two batters swinging.

Concordia starter Kevin Woebke was efficient in getting out of trouble in the early innings, inducing the double play liner in the first, picking off a runner after leadoff single in the second and inducing a double play grounder in the third. But the Mavericks were able to scratch a run across in the first and third innings while continuing to put pressure on the Golden Bears with their bats.

In the fourth, Concordia put two runners on base for the first time in the series via a pair of MSU miscues, a two base fielding error to start the inning with Andrew Shotwell at the plate and a two out error at third base with Poppitz swinging. But Roach was able to work out of trouble to end the only two base runner threat he'd face in the first six innings.

MSU capitalized in the bottom of the inning, finally getting to Concordia's pitching with arguably the top lineup in the country.

After Woebke struck out Waletich to start the inning, MSU put together four straight singles against him to score twice for a 4-0 lead.

MSU added three more in the fifth inning to chase Woebke from the game as he'd take the loss, falling to 2-3 on the year. He worked five full frames, allowing seven runs on 11 hits with three strikeouts on 79 pitches.

Although Concordia had more success putting runners on base against Roach, he would end up going the distance for the Mavericks' second two-hit shutout of the day. The Golden Bears more measured approach allowed the team to draw four walks including two by Dalton while leaving seven runners on base compared to just two baserunners in the series opener.

Roach improved to 4-1 on the year while lowering his ERA to 1.57. Concordia forced him to throw 13 more pitches, 99 as he added five strikeouts and hit a batter.

But the Maverick offense would end the game early, scoring two more runs in the sixth and putting the game ending run across the plate in the bottom of the seventh inning with one out.

Relievers Tyler Schmitz and Erick Kivi finished the last two innings on the mound for Concordia, giving up the last three runs. Schmitz struck out a pair in his inning of work in the sixth.