ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (12-3, 5-1 NSIC) extended its winning streak to seven games including a 5-0 start to conference play with a 1-0 first game win before a 6-5 second game loss to U-Mary (4-13, 2-3 NSIC) snapped the streak on Sunday afternoon at Barnes Field. The Marauders also snapped Concordia's 20-game winning streak in the all-time series in the Golden Bears' first loss to U-Mary since the 2008 season.

The games were played with temperatures in the low 60's for game one, falling to the mid 50's in game two as a calm first game wind shifted to a steady cold wind from the north at 20 miles per hour with strong gusts in game two while a high sun in game one and low sun behind home in game two made for challenging defensive circumstances for both clubs.

The shifting northern winds will bring temperatures into the low 40's for tomorrow's doubleheader, scheduled for a noon first pitch but the winds are predicted to fall to the single digits for the games.

GAME 1: Concordia 1, U-Mary 0
Senior left handed starting pitcher Zach Rengel tossed his first career complete game shutout on just 91 pitches (62 strikes), allowing three singles and a double with four strikeouts and a walk. The Marauders put a runner on second base three times against Rengel, a two out double in the third, an error in the fourth and back-to-back singles to start the sixth. In the sixth inning, Rengel picked the runner off second base and stranded the runner on second behind him, and the Marauders had a runner caught stealing with one out in the seventh before Rengel struckout the final batter for the win.

Rengel improves to 2-1 with the victory, facing just 25 batters in the process. He's now 13-11 in 32 career appearances (30 starts) with seven complete games, a 3.60 ERA in 162.1 innings and 156 strikeouts.

He out-dueled McKeon Meyhoff who went the distance (6.0 IP) for U-Mary, allowing an unearned run on four hits with four strikeouts and a walk. He needed just 90 pitches to the 22 batters he faced but falls to 0-3.

Concordia sent the minimum three batters to the plate each of the first five innings, erased on a double play in the first as part of 10 straight batters retired by Meyhoff after a leadoff walk to Connor Olson. Tanner Holmquist broke up his bid for a no-hitter in the fourth as he ripped a single to left field before being caught stealing to end the inning.

Concordia made it two hits in a row as Ben Suits led off the fifth with a sharp single to right field, moving to second on a bunt by Ryan Poppitz and to third on a wild pitch but was stranded 90 feet from taking the lead.

In the sixth, Isaac Hormann led off with a single to center, moved up on Adam Hildebrandt's bunt single. Eric Fasnacht reached on a fielder's choice and stole second to give Concordia runners on second and third with two outs when Holmquist hit a chopper that was misplayed at third base by the Marauders, allowing the game winning run to score.

GAME 2: U-Mary 6, Concordia 5
The Marauders and Golden Bears dueled again in game two as young right handers Gus Varland (Fr.) for Concordia and Jake Johnson (So.) for U-Mary produced efficient and dominant first three innings in carving up the opposition the first time through the order. Varland struck out four Marauders the first time through the order and had five strikeouts through three shutout innings.

U-Mary finally got to him in the fourth with a leadoff double by Jason Shaul who went 5-5 with three RBI in the game. He scored on a one out double by Drew Feuerbach although Feuerbach was thrown out at home to prevent further damage in the innning.

In the fifth, the Marauders added to their lead as Shaul delivered a two-run double but was stranded on third to end the inning with a 3-0 U-Mary lead.

Johnson was cruising on the other side, shutting Concordia out on 50 pitches through five innings, getting two strikeouts to start the sixth as his ERA dropped to 1.01 in his fourth start of the year.

With two outs, Concordia's 'comeback kids' were determined to get back in the game. Eric Fasnacht drew a four pitch walk after Hormann and Olson had struck out looking on a combined 18 pitches. He moved to second on a wild pitch and scored when Tanner Holmquist flipped an RBI single the other way off the right field fence. A single by Ben Suits gave th Golden Bears runners on first and second with two outs when Ryan Poppitz tied the game by sending a line drive to the opposite field gap in right center, scoring Suits from first on the play.

U-Mary went back on top in the seventh, getting a pair of singles for runners on second and third with one out, chasing Varland from the game tied 3-3.

Junior right hander Jake Kounkel entered in a tough spot, facing the hot-hitting Shaul who laced a single back up the middle to score one, followed by another sharp single off the second baseman into centerfield for a 5-3 lead.

Connor Olson hit a two-out solo home run to right field in the bottom of the inning to bring it back to a one run game, but the Marauders continued to hold off Concordia by getting a two out run in the eighth.

Once again, Concordia answered when Suits hit a one out double down the left field line and Alex LaPorte hitting an RBI single to score the pinch runner Steven Nessler.

In the ninth inning, Concordia had a pair of outs from the bottom of the order to start the inning before Olson drew a walk and moved to second on a wild pitch, but Fasnacht's line drive was hit directly to U-Mary's shortstop to end the game.

Varland was charged with the loss, allowing all five runs in 6.1 innings of work with six strikeouts and two walks in another deep start. Kounkel struck out five over 2.2 relief innings, allowing a run on five hits with no walks.

Johnson went deep in the game for U-Mary after the Golden Bears made his day more difficult in the middle innings. He went 8.0 innings for the win, allowing all five runs as his ERA went from 1.01 with two outs in the fifth to its current 2.48 mark. Concordia picked up nine hits against him despite entering the contest having allowed just six through 21 innings. He struck out seven and walked two. Ryo Takenaka earned his first save with the shutout ninth inning.

LaPorte went 2-3 while Fasnacht and Suits were 2-4 in game two. Suits was 3-7 in the doubleheader. Olson's home run was his fourth of the year and the only long ball of the day just a week after Concordia hit 18 in a four game series against Bemidji State.

While Shaul was 5-5 with a pair of doubles and three RBI to boost his average to .462 on the year for the Marauders, the team's top hitter Tom Imholte went 2-5 with two runs in game two and 4-8 in the doubleheader to keep his average above the .500 mark at .528. Seth Meade went 3-4 from the ninth spot in the lineup, as well.