MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (1-1) opened up the season with a solid split against #17 St. Cloud State (1-1) at US Bank Stadium on Monday afternoon as the Golden Bears won game one 3-1 before falling 7-2 in game two.
 
It was an impressive debut for both teams as they made the trip to the new Vikings stadium for the first time in what could prove to be crucial in-region contests. Concordia took advantage of a solid pitching combination with Gus Varland and Josh Lenz holding the Huskies to just one run on four hits in a 3-1 victory. SCSU responded by jumping on the Golden Bears with a five run second in game two en route to a 7-2 win.
 
Carter Schmidt paced team with three hits in six at-bats while Isaac Hormann doubled twice and drove in a run. Ben Suits also had a pair of hits as well.
 
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 3, St. Cloud State 1
The opener was a battle of one of the top starters in Sheldon Miks against an emerging hurler in Gus Varland.
 
Varland (1-0) got the best of the battle as he worked five innings and allowed a run on three hits. He finished with four walks and four strikeouts on the day.
 
Josh Lenz picked up where Varland left off with just one hit allowed in his two innings of work with a strikeout as he grabbed the save.
 
Sheldon Miks (0-1) took the loss as CSP hung three runs on him with seven hits as he struck out four in four innings.
 
Zach Elder came through with the big hit as his two-run home run in the top of the third proved to be the game-winning hit. Ben Suits and Schmidt each added a pair of hits in the game as well.
 
Both pitchers faced the minimum in the first as the game remained scoreless until the bottom of the second. Mathew Meyer looped an  inside-out double down the line in right with one out before Mitch Mallek singled to put runners on the corners. Cody Rutledge followed with a chopper down the third base line and beat out the throw to first on a double play attempt to allow Meyer to score the game's first run.
 
The Golden Bears wasted little time answering back as they broke through in the top of the third. After a fly out to start the inning, Andrew Shotwell singled and stole second to put himself in scoring position. With two down, Isaac Hormann hit a liner out to left field that dropped in front of the left fielder and hopped over his head for an RBI double. The two-out rally continued with Zach Elder launching a shot to dead center that landed just above the outstretched glove of Jackson Goplin to give Concordia a 3-1 lead.
 
St. Cloud State threatened in the third as Judd Davis walked and stole base before Jordan Joseph also drew a walk, but Varland shut the door with a strikeout and fly out to end the inning. The sophomore once again worked out of trouble in the fourth as he worked around a leadoff single and stranded runners on the corners with two down to hold it at 3-1. The fourth inning was highlighted by an incredible diving catch in the left center gap by Jake Steckler, his first of several impressive plays on the day. It was the same story in the fifth as runners on first and second with one out didn't materialize in anything as Varland finished off his day with another shutout inning.
 
Lenz made quick work of the Huskies in the sixth before allowing just a one out single in the seventh to close out the save in solid fashion.
 
Only two of the starters for SCSU collected hits as Mathew Meyer was their only hitter to register a multi-hit game.
 
GAME TWO: St. Cloud State 7, Concordia-St. Paul 2
The St. Cloud State bats came alive in game two as they jumped out to a 5-0 run in the second to take control as they held the Golden Bears to a run in the third and a run in the seventh in a 7-2 final.
 
Cal Giese (1-0) picked up the win in five solid innings of work with four strikeouts while allowing four hits and just one run.
 
Jordan Joseph delivered the big hit with a bases clearing double to drive in three runs to go along with a triple and a run scored. Bo Schmitz and Hayden Gerlach each contributed a pair of hits as well.
 
Kevin Woebke (0-1) took the loss as he worked two innings, allowing five runs and striking out one. Connor Hurley followed with three impressive innings out of the bullpen in his collegiate debut as he didn't allow a hit and walked one. Jake Kounkel worked the final two innings to finish things off.
 
After 1-2-3 innings for both teams to start the game, SCSU came out swinging in the second with a single, a double and another single sandwiched around a failed pickoff attempt to take a 1-0 lead. After a strikeout and a walk to load the bases, Connor Maas laced a single up the middle to double the lead. Woebke then recorded the second out with a fielder's choice as he picked up a comebacker and threw home for the force out. With the Golden Bears an out away from limiting the damage, Joseph delivered the decisive blow with a double that hugged the left field line to drive in all three runs to bring it to 5-0.
 
The score remained 5-0 into the bottom of the third when Jake Steckler led off the inning with a ground rule double in the right field corner for CSP's first hit. Patrick Bordewick followed with his first collegiate hit with a solid single up the middle to drive in Steckler. Isaac Hormann added a two-out double to put two runners in scoring position, but a nice stab by Giese on a hard groundball back at him ended the rally.
 
Concordia managed just one more hit until the seventh, a Carter Schmidt infield single in the fourth, as offense became hard to come by in the night cap.
 
The Huskies were able to add a pair of insurance runs in their half of the seventh as back-to-back triples from Joseph and Jackson Goplen followed by a sac fly for Mathew Meyer pushed the score to 7-1.
 
Concordia threatened to fight their way back into the game in the final half inning as back-to-back four-pitch walks started the inning. Tanner Holmquist delivered a pinch-hit single to loaded the bases before Connor Olson drove in a run on a fielder's choice, but that would be all for the Golden Bears a in a 7-2 final in game two.
 
The Golden Bears will return to action on Thursday night in the first of their five-game trip to Arizona as they are scheduled to face Asuza Pacific at 7 p.m.