MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (6-4) picked up a split at US Bank Stadium on Thursday with a 4-0 loss to Minot State (2-2) in the first game and a 4-3 win over Wayne State (3-6).
 
While it was a day dominated by pitching, Steven Nessler was solid at the plate for CSP as he collected four hits in six at-bats to move his season batting average up to .500 through 22 at-bats this season. With hits in both games, Nessler has now hit safely in all seven games he's appeared in on the year.
 
The pitching staff, meanwhile, struck out 23 hitters in 18.0 innings as they held their opponents to a .224 batting average on the day. CSP used just four pitchers on the day, three of which recorded over a strikeout per inning.
 
GAME ONE: Minot State 4, Concordia-St. Paul 0
After a blistering finish to the trip to Arizona offensively, the Golden Bear bats were slowed down in a big way in game one by Minot State starter Jeremy Sylvester.
 
Sylvester (2-0) came within a pair of outs of picking up the complete game shutout before departing with an injury as he held CSP to five hits while striking out five in his 8.1 innings of work. Justin Demary finished off the shutout with two strikeouts to end the game.
 
The Golden Bears got a solid start of their own as Keanu Mendez (0-2) took a tough luck loss, working 8.0+ innings in the start. Mendez struck out 10 while walking none as he gave up four runs on nine hits.
 
Connor Olson and Carter Schmidt combined for four of the team's five hits as Olson went 2-4 with a double and Schmidt went 2-3 with a walk. Steven Nessler added the other hit for CSP.
 
Michael Borst had a big game in the middle of the Minot State order with four hits in four trips, including a double, while scoring once and driving in another.
 
The Beavers opened the scoring in the top of the first with a two out rally. After Mendez struck out the first two hitters of the game, Jordan Schulz hit one off the baggy in right center field just out of the reach of right fielder Zach Elder for a triple. Borst followed with his first hit of the day as he bounced one past Isaac Hormann up the middle for an RBI single.
 
Concordia look to answer in their half of the inning with a leadoff double off the wall in right for Olson, but Sylvester worked his way around the double and a two-out walk to hold it at 1-0.
 
The score held there until the top of the fifth as both teams matched zeroes, including Mendez striking out the side in the top of the second, before Minot State added to their lead.
 
In the fifth, Trevaun Smith picked up an RBI triple in the gap to drive in Demary, who was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, before a double down the right field line off the bat of Kyle Williamson brought in Smith to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
Both pitchers went back to limiting the offense from there as it remained 3-0 until the top of the ninth when the Beavers added another insurance run. Back-to-back doubles for Borst and Celestino Rodriguez to lead off the inning brought home the fourth run before Ray Wellner came on to retire all three batters he faced to end the inning.
 
Sylvester coaxed a pop out to start the bottom of the ninth before allowing a single to Carter Schmidt, but was forced to leave the game with a 2-2 count to Roch Whittaker due to an apparent injury. Demary then entered and hit Whittaker with a pitch to give CSP runners on first and second before striking out the next two hitters to end the game.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 4, Wayne State 3
Pitching was the story again in game two of the day as the Golden Bears rode the duo of Connor Hurley and Josh Lenz to a 4-3 victory to claim the split.
 
Hurley (1-0) was impressive in his first collegiate start, retiring the first 11 hitters he faced en route to picking up the win. The freshman right-hander allowed just one run on two hits as he struck out eight in 5.0 innings before giving way to Lenz.
 
Lenz picked up his second save of the year as he worked the final four innings while sending the first nine hitters he faced down in order. Overall, he allowed two runs on four hits with three strikeouts, lifting his ERA to 1.38 on the year.
 
Steven Nessler continued to produce from the bottom of the order as he collected three of the team's five hits. He doubled, drove in two, stole a base and scored a run in the game.
 
Hunter Weinhoff (1-1) took the loss for Wayne State as he allowed four runs on four hits in 5.0 innings of work before Keenan Breen nearly worked a perfect final four innings. Breen allowed just one hit and struck out four in relief.
 
The offensive drought continued through the first four innings as neither team scored a run until the fifth. It took until the top of the third for either team to even have a base runner as Nessler broke the streak with a two-out single in the inning. Hurley didn't allow his first hit until the bottom of the fourth as he struck out seven of the first 11 hitters he faced before a two-out single broke up the perfect game.
 
The Golden Bears were the first ones to break through as they jumped in front with a four spot in their half of the fifth. Roch Whittaker got the inning started by reaching on an error before Joe Muench drew a walk to put a pair on base with nobody out. After an Andrew Shotwell sacrifice bunt put both in scoring position and Patrick Bordewick drew a walk to load the bases, Steven Nessler drove in a pair with a double to center that dropped in front of the center fielder and bounced over his head to open the scoring. One batter later, Isaac Hormann doubled the lead with a two-run single to make it 4-0.
 
The Wildcats answered back in the bottom of the inning as two straight hit by pitches put runners on first and second with nobody out before Cody Castro lined a one-out single through the left side of the infield to cut it to 4-1. Hurley closed out strong with a groundout and fly out to limit the damage to one run.
 
While the day was down for both starters after the fifth, both Lenz and Breen kept the swift pace going with three and a half scoreless innings heading to the bottom of the ninth.
 
After three more scoreless innings, Lenz finally allowed his first runs of the season in the bottom of the ninth, ending his scoreless inning streak at 12.1. A leadoff double for Simons got the rally started before Cooper drove in the first run with a double of his own with one out. Janes followed with a single to cut it to one at 4-3 and Thompson added another single to put the winning run on base. Lenz buckled down to record the second out on a fielder's choice before ending it himself with a comebacker to preserve the save and preserve the 4-3 victory.
 
Concordia will head back to US Bank Stadium on Saurday evening with a seven-inning doubleheader against Concordia College with first pitch scheduled for 5 p.m.