ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (17-21, 15-15 NSIC) and Winona State (19-24, 17-13 NSIC) split a doubleheader for the second day in a row with Concordia winning game one 3-2 before falling 11-1 in the second game on Sunday afternoon at Barnes Field.

Entering the weekend, Concordia sat in a four team tie for seventh in the Northern Sun standings with eight games to play. With the weekend split, combined with SMSU and Sioux Falls losing their series', Concordia is in sole possession of eighth place with four games to play against Sioux Falls (15-29, 12-16 NSIC) next Friday and Saturday at Barnes Field. Concordia trails Northern State (23-20, 16-14 NSIC) by one game for seventh and holds a two game lead over SMSU (19-25, 12-16 NSIC) and USF.

Senior left fielder Tyler Krekling had a big day for Concordia, going 4-5 with a run, an RBI and his fourth double to lift his average 22 points to .312. He had a pair of hits in each game.

GAME 1: Concordia 3, Winona State 2
Winona State continued to hit for power against the Golden Bears, hitting a pair of home runs in the first game of the day as Tyler Nehring hit his seventh homer of the year in the first inning with two outs against Concordia left handed starter Kody Knaus.

But that was all the Warriors were able to muster against Knaus as he retired nine of the next 10 hitters and pitched around trouble by helping himself in the fifth inning.

Meanwhile, Concordia wasn't able to convert on early opportunities, leaving runners on second and third in the first inning and hitting into an inning ending double play with the bases loaded and one out in the second inning.

In the fourth, a leadoff walk to Andrew Shotwell and a wild pitch gave the Golden Bears a runner in scoring position and with two outs, David Henke was hit by a pitch for the second time in the game setting up Tyler Krekling's RBI single to the hole at short. Kyle Dalton followed by going with an outside breaking ball, lining a single to left to score Henke from second base for a 2-1 lead.

In the fifth inning, WSU started to rally back with a single and walk against Knaus to start the inning. But ninth batter Michael Hommes wasn't able to sacrifice the runners over as Knaus fielded Hommes' bunt and fired to third to get the lead runner for the first out. He struck out leadoff hitter Andrew Geislinger swinging for the second out and got Jordan Plamann to ground out to Eric Fasnacht at short to end the inning.

He pitched around a two out single in the sixth inning and left the game leading 2-1, allowing a run on five hits with a walk and two strikeouts.

Krekling helped Knaus' cause for a victory by socking a one out double down the left field line and scored with two outs when Adam Hildebrandt drew a walk with the fourth ball bouncing to the backstop for the Krekling insurance run.

In the seventh, Concordia turned to Yuji Suzuki for the second straight game and although Nathan Krause delivered a one out home run (3), Suzuki retired the next two batters, striking out Geislinger for his fourth save.

Knaus improved to 3-2 on the year, lowing his ERA to 4.57.

Lucas Crimmins took the loss for WSU, allowing two runs on five hits over five innings with six strikeouts, falling to 2-4.

GAME 2: Winona State 11, Concordia 1 (7 innings)
The Warriors power surge continued through the end of the series as fifth hitter Travis Evanson did the damage, going 2-3 with a pair of home runs (11). His two homers came in his first two at bats in the first and third innings, a three-run and two-run homer respectively to give the Warriors a 5-1 lead.

His home runs were Winona State's fifth and sixth of the weekend.

Concordia was facing the reigning NCBWA Division II Pitcher of the Week, Mitchell Stalsberg. The freshman left handed starter was coming off a no-hitter against Sioux Falls last Sunday.

The Golden Bears wasted little time pouncing on him in the series finale as Alex LaPorte drilled a one out double to the right center field gap in the bottom of the first inning and scored when Connor Olson followed with an RBI single through the right side.

Salsberg settled into a groove after that, retiring 10 of the next 12 Concordia hitters and didn't allow a Golden Bear into scoring position until the fifth inning.

In the bottom of the fifth and trailing by a still managable 6-1 margin, the Golden Bears loaded the bases with the 7-8-9 hitters to start the inning as Trevon Bargfrede singled the right side, David Henke walked and Tyler Krekling dropped down a bunt single down the third base line.

Concordia loaded the bases again in the sixth inning with one out against Salsberg with a leadoff walk to Eric Fasnacht, a one out single to left center by Andrew Shotwell and a walk to Bargfrede.

But Salsberg was able to pitch out of trouble in both innings, keeping Concordia from putting any runs on the scoreboard.

The Warriors capitalized when Concordia left the bases loaded in the fifth inning by scoring four runs in the top of the sixth to put the game out of reach at 10-1. WSU tacked on another in the seventh for the 10-run lead and Mitch Voter struck out the side around a walk in the seventh to end the contest.

Josh Lenz took the loss for the Golden Bears, falling to 2-1 on the year as he allowed five runs in three innings while striking out four Warriors. Erik Monson pitched the rest of the way, working four innings in relief while allowing six runs with a pair of strikeouts.

Salsberg picked up the win, improving to 3-2 as he struck out eight over six innings. Concordia scored once against him on six hits while drawing four walks. The Golden Bears left four in scoring position against him in the fifth and sixth innings.