ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (10-10, 4-4 NSIC) came from behind in the second game of the day to salvage a doubleheader split with Minot State (11-4, 6-2 NSIC) on Monday afternoon at Bob Barnes Field. CSP bounced back from a 6-4 loss in game one to take game two 3-2 to avoid the four-game sweep in the series.
 
Carter Schmidt's two-run double in the eighth inning proved to be the difference as each team took a game in Concordia's official home opener on campus. The sophomore catcher finished the day tied for the team lead with three hits, including the double.
 
Zach Elder also had a productive day at the plate as he socked his fifth and sixth home runs of the season while also providing a double on the day. Of Elder's 12 hits on the season, eight have gone for extra bases.
 
Isaac Hormann extended his hitting streak to six games as he went 3-7 in the doubleheader to finish the series with a team-leading six hits. He now leads the team with a .392 average and 29 hits on the year.
 
Connor Hurley highlighted another strong pitching day for the Golden Bears as he allowed just two runs in seven innings to lower his ERA to 3.33 on the year. As a staff, CSP finished with a 2.25 ERA and a .262 opponent average in 16.0 innings of work in the two games.
 
GAME ONE: Minot State 6, Concordia-St. Paul 4
The Golden Bears took a 3-2 lead into the fifth inning of the seven inning first game, but a four-run fifth for the Beavers gave Minot State the decisive advantage.
 
Minot State took advantage of CSP's miscues as they four unearned runs off of Golden Bear starter Keanu Mendez. Mendez (1-3) threw a complete game in the loss as he allowed nine hits and just two earned runs while striking out eight.
 
Justin Demary (3-1), after spending much of Sunday at third base before coming on to get the save in game two, got the win for Beavers in game three by working the first 6.0 innings. He allowed six hits and a pair of walks while striking out two. Dylan Roach, who got the win in game two out of the bullpen, came on to pick up the save with a perfect seventh.
 
Elder was the lone CSP hitter to register a multi-hit game as he launched a solo shot to left in the third and another solo shot to right in the fourth. Hormann also reached twice with a single and a hit by pitch while Carter Schmidt was hit twice and Patrick Bordewick was walked twice.
 
It was once again Minot State that struck first as they broke through with a pair of runs against Mendez in the third after a quick first two innings. After a two-out walk from Kyle Williamson, Sean Alp singled to right center to put a pair on for Jordan Schulz. Schulz roped a solid single to right and Elder was unable to come up with the ball cleanly which allowed Alp to score all the way from first to make it 2-0.
 
Concordia responded with two in their half of the inning to tie it up at 2-2. Elder led off the inning with his first homer of the day, depositing the pitch over the high wall in left. Bordewick followed with a walk and Adam Hildebrandt bunted him up before back-to-back singles from Connor Olson and Hormann brought home Bordewick.
 
Mendez responded with a quick 1-2-3 inning to get CSP back up to the plate with a chance to take the lead in the bottom of the fourth. Elder did just that as he launched another high fly ball, this time to right field, over the wall for his second homer in as many innings to give CSP a 3-2 edge.
 
That lead would last just a half inning as the Beavers responded with four in the fifth. A Golden Bears throwing error on a potential inning-ending double play kept the rally alive. Schulz drove in a pair with a two-out double and Michael Borst followed with an infield RBI single before another double from Celestino Rodriguez extended the lead to 6-3.
 
The Golden Bears got one back in the bottom of the fifth as Roch Whittaker drove in Hormann with a one-out sacrifice fly with the bases loaded, but that would be all they would get as the next seven CSP hitters were sent down in order to preserve the 6-4 final.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 3, Minot State 2
Despite falling behind again in game four of the weekend, the Golden Bears scratched and clawed their way in front to grab a much-needed win.
 
Carter Schmidt led the way offensively with three hits, including the crucial two-run double to put the Golden Bears in front in the eighth. Hormann added two more hits along with a run scored as well.
 
Connor Hurley was solid in a no-decision as he worked 7.0 innings, allowing two run on seven hits while striking out one. Jake Kounkel (1-0) came on to work the eight and the ninth as he didn't allow a hit and walked one to go along with a pair of strikeouts to pick up the win.
 
Kendal Daniels (0-2) was nearly as effective on the other side as he pitched the first 7.2 innings before giving way to Dylan Roach for the final out. Daniels struck out five and gave up three runs on nine hits in the loss.
 
The Beavers grabbed a pair of runs off of Hurley in the top of the first despite having one ball leave the infield in the inning. Kyle Williamson beat out an infield single before advancing to second on a wild pitch and moving up on a groundout. Schulz followed with a walk and stole second to set up a two-out single up the middle off the bat of Celestino Rodriguez to bring in both runners.
 
That would be all the Beavers could muster against the duo of Hurley and Kounkel as the pair combined for eight consecutive shutout innings.
 
Daniels carved through the Golden Bear order until the fifth when Zach Elder got the inning started with a double into the gap in left center. After an unproductive groundout, Steven Nessler made it runners on the corners with a single to right. Connor Olson very nearly put the Golden Bears in front with a deep fly ball to left center, but Williamson made the grab to limit the damage to a sacrifice fly. Hormann followed with a single to keep the inning alive, but a fielder's choice ended the inning to keep it at 2-1.
 
That lead held until the eighth when Olson led off with a single down the left field line before a hard bunt single off the bat of Hormann put two on with nobody out. Tanner Holmquist got the job done with a sacrifice bunt to set the stage for Schmidt. Schmidt lifted a liner into the gap in left center and Jordan Schulz nearly made an incredible diving catch, but it popped out of his glove, resulting in a double that scored both.
 
Kounkel made things a little interesting with a leadoff walk in the top of the ninth, but pinch runner Alexander Mack was thrown out trying to take second on a pitch that got away from Carter Schmidt behind the plate. Kounkel then got a groundout and a strikeout to secure the 3-2 victory.
 
The Golden Bears are now scheduled for a 12-game road trip starting this Wednesday at Bemidji State. First pitch is set for 1:30 p.m.