ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (9-2, 2-0 NSIC) opened Northern Sun play in style on home opening weekend with a pair of comeback wins, 10-8 and 4-3 over Bemidji State (3-15, 0-2 NSIC) on Friday afternoon at Barnes Field. The two teams are scheduled to complete the four game series with a noon first pitch tomorrow at Barnes Field. With a 70 percent chance of rain, please follow @CUGoldenBears on Twitter and continue to check the website for any delay or venue change updates.

With temperatures in the mid 40's and the wind blowing out for most of the afternoon, the two teams combined for 10 home runs but it was the eight blasts by Concordia that propelled the sweep. In game one, Bemidji State claimed a 7-1 lead in the top of the third inning when Concordia's power ignited with five home runs for a 9-run bottom of the inning for a 10-7 lead. In game two, back-to-back solo shots tied the game at 2-2 in the fourth only to see BSU get a run in the top of the fifth. Connor Olson delivered the parting shot with two outs in the seventh, a two-run eventual game-winning home run that put Concordia ahead 4-3.

Olson and Tanner Holmquist hit a home run in each game, giving Holmquist a team-high four on the year while Olson hit his first two of the season while also hitting his eighth double of the year.

Concordia's bullpen saved the day as well, working 10.0 innings with just one run allowed on seven hits with 10 strikeouts.

GAME 1: Concordia 10, Bemidji State 8
The Beavers put up four runs in the second including a three run home run by Gunner Olszewski and tacked on three unearned runs in the third to go ahead 7-1.

In the bottom of the third, Connor Olson led off with a home run and two batters later Eric Fasnacht smacked his second of the year. After Ben Suits drew a hit by pitch, Tanner Holmquist hit the third homer of the inning. Alex LaPorte followed with a single and scored on a Ryan Poppitz homer to tie the game at 7-7. Isaac Hormann added another single before Cole Kirchoff hit his first career homer to put Concordia in front 9-7. Olson doubled in his second at bat of the inning and scored on a two-out RBI single by Fasnacht to complete the nine run frame.

From there, the two bullpens shut down the opposing bats. For Concordia, it was junior left hander Josh Lenz who relieved senior southpaw Zach Rengel in the third. Rengel allowed seven runs, but only four were earned and took the no decision.

Lenz settled into a groove, scattering five BSU singles in four shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts and just one walk. He gave way to senior right hander Yuji Suzuki who picked up his third save as Lenz moved to 1-0 in his third appearance.

The Concordia defense came up big a few times for Lenz, but it was Poppitz who stood out with the top plays of the day in the fifth inning, making a diving stop to his left to cut off a ball headed through the hole for the first out. With first and third and two outs, he came up with another big stop on a groundout to get Lenz out of the inning.

Terry Hadden took the loss for BSU, allowing all 10 runs in 2.1 innings on 11 hits with four strikeouts. Nate Heisick pitched 3.2 scoreless in relief.

Fasnacht went 4-4 at the plate in the first game while Olson was 2-4 with a double and a homer. Poppitz was 2-3 while matching Olson's two extra base hits as he also doubled and homered. Hormann's 2-3 effort provided the team with five players who had multi-hit games.

Tyler Nelson led BSU at the plate by going 4-5, but only produced one run on an RBI. Olszewski was 1-3 with a home run, four RBI and three runs from the eighth spot in the lineup.

Bemidji State stranded 11 runners on base in the game including six in scoring position and left runners on second and third to end the game. Concordia only stranded four on base as they hit the five home runs to clear the bases and also grounded into three double plays in the game.

GAME 2: Concordia 4, Bemidji State 3
In game two, it was Bemidji State who started things out with the long ball as Joey Hanowski took CSP starter Gus Varland deep to leadoff the contest. BSU had back-to-back singles to start the second inning, manufacturing a run on a ground out to take an early 2-0 lead while BSU starter Jack Stigman retired the first six batters he faced in order.

In the fourth inning with one out, freshman Ben Suits became the sixth Golden Bear to homer on the day and was followed by Holmquist who tied the game at 2-2 with his second home run of the doubleheader.

Bemidji State responded with a two-out rally in the top of the fifth inning, getting a two-out single and a pair of walks to load the bases when Mason Bellew drove in a run on a single to left. But Varland responded in a big spot with a swinging strikeout of the hot-hitting Olszewski to end the threat and limit the damage with a 3-2 deficit.

Stigman retired the Golden Bears in the fifth, forcing Concordia to strand a runner in scoring position but his day would end after five frames. He left with the 3-2 lead, striking out six Golden Bears while allowing just three hits and two walks.

Varland's day would also come to a close after the bases loaded strikeout in the fifth inning as he allowed three runs on eight hits and three walks with four strikeouts. He forced BSU to strand a runner on second in the second inning, runners on second and third with no outs in the third inning and the bases loaded with two outs in the fifth.

Keanu Mendez was outstanding in relief of Varland and was also able to pitch out of trouble. Mendez forced BSU to leave a runner in scoring position in all four innings. He would blank BSU over his four frames, allowing just one hit and two walks while striking out seven.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Poppitz led off with a single up the middle, advanced to second on David Henke's sacrifice bunt and moved to third on a wild pitch. On Olson's at bat, BSU reliever Patrick Gonzales had multiple pitches saved by his catcher Olszewski in the dirt to prevent Poppitz from tying the game. But with a full count, Olson deposited a pitch at the knees over the extended fence down the left field line just inside the foul pole for the go-ahead blast.

In the ninth inning, BSU threatened Mendez who hit a batter on the first pitch of the inning and then had two runners on and no outs with an error on BSU's sacrifice attempt. He struck out the next two batters looking before inducing a routine ground out to LaPorte at second base for the win.

Mendez improves to 3-0, earning a win in all three of his appearances this season despite just one start as his ERA dips to 0.82. Gonzales took a tough loss for BSU, allowing two runs in two innings despite an otherwise effective performance.

Holmquist went 3-4 in game two to raise his average to .400. Scott Litchy led BSU at the plate, going 3-4.