ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (18-16, 12-10 NSIC) is set for another crucial week of NSIC action as they travel to Minnesota Duluth (16-18, 11-11 NSIC) on Wednesday before returning home to host Augustana (24-15, 18-6 NSIC) on Saturday and Sunday. First pitch is set for noon on Wednesday, 1:30 p.m. on Saturday, and noon on Sunday.
 
Live stats will be available for all three days while Wednesday and Sunday's games will be available on webcast.
 
LAST TIME OUT
The Golden Bears picked up a mid-week split last Tuesday at Bob Barnes Field with the Mary Marauders before having a bye over the weekend.
 
After seeing the Marauders score three runs in the final two innings to pull out the 8-5 win in game one, CSP hammered out 11 runs on 11 hits to invoke the run rule in an 11-1 seven-inning game two win. The team finished the day going 22-63 (.349) while reaching base at a .414 clip and slugging .444 as they outscored the Marauders 16-9 on the day.
 
Just five of the nine runs scored by Mary were earned, resulting in a 3.21 ERA with eight strikeouts in 14.0 innings as none of CSP's pitchers allowed more than two earned runs in the doubleheader.
 
Tanner Holmquist was nearly perfect on the day as he finished 5-7 (.714) with a pair of double and a hit pitch while driving in four and scoring three times on the day. Carter Schmidt matched Holmquist's 1.000 slugging percentage as he finished with four hits (.572 avg), including a homer, and drew a walk in his eight trips to put up four RBIs and three runs scored as well.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS UMD
The Golden Bears and the Bulldogs have put together a fairly even series history with CSP holding a record of 20-26 against UMD heading into Wednesday. Concordia's best stretch came from 2006-09 as they claimed 11 wins in 13 meetings during that span. Recently, Minnesota Duluth had put together a seven-game winning streak in the series until CSP grabbed the last two meetings last season. In 20 meetings in Duluth, Concordia has gone 6-14.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE BULLDOGS
Last season after being swept in the regular season series last year, the Golden Bears knocked off the top-seeded Bulldogs twice in the NSIC Tournament during their run to the title game.
 
In the ninth inning of the semifinal matchup, CSP scored six runs in the ninth to build the decisive advantage in an 11-8 win.
 
Sophomore second baseman Adam Hildebrandt executed the play of the night, laying down a squeeze bunt with senior Ryan Poppitz on third base. The bunt was perfectly placed, with UMD's only play at first. Hildebrandt reached on a throwing error to keep the inning alive. His squeeze bunt broke a 5-5 tie with one out in the top of the ninth inning. The rally was just getting started as freshman Roch Whittaker followed with an RBI single. A walk to sophomore Andrew Shotwell loaded the bases for sophomore Connor Olson.
 
Olson came through in the clutch, blowing the game open when he launched a double into the gap, clearing the bases with sophomore Tanner Holmquist hitting a sacrifice fly two batters later for the 11-5 lead with three outs to play. Olson had a big day, going 2-4 with three runs, three RBI and a pair of doubles.
 
In the bottom of the ninth, the Bulldogs threatened with one of the nation's top offenses including the top slugger in the country, Alex Wojciechowski. But the UMD slugger was due up eighth in the inning, meaning he'd represent a game tying or go-ahead situation.
 
The Bulldogs were able to put together enough base runners to get into that exact situation. Facing junior left handed pitcher Kevin Woebke with three runs in and two runners on base, A.Wojciechowski represented the game's tying run.
 
Woebke executed, getting Wojciechowski to fly out to left field with Holmquist securing the game winning out.
 
SERIES HISTORY VS AUGIE
The Golden Bears will look to improve their all-time mark against the Vikings this weekend as they have claimed just four wins in the previous 22 meetings between the two schools. Augie put together a dominant stretch by winning 17 of 18 in the series since 2009, including nine in a row since 2012, before CSP picked up two wins to salvage a split in the four-game series to kick off conference play last year. Concordia is still looking for their first win in St. Paul against Augustana as they have gone 0-6 in their two trips to Barnes Field.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE VIKINGS
The two teams split in the NSIC opening weekend last season as the Vikings picked up two wins on Saturday before the Golden Bears bounced back with two wins on Sunday in Sioux Falls.
 
On day two, CSP gained the decisive lead in the first inning of the first game before grabbing two runs in the ninth in game two to complete the sweep.
 
Senior Kody Knaus got the Golden Bears in the win column with a dominant outing as he silenced the Augustana offense in the complete game victory. The left-hander didn't allow a single earned run (one unearned) in his seven innings of work as he allowed five hits and struck out seven in game three of the series in a 2-1 win.
 
Offense was hard to come by again in the fourth game as Concordia scored two in the ninth to break a 2-2 tie before holding off the Vikings and claiming the sweep of the day.
 
Senior Alex LaPorte came through in the clutch as he delivered a bases-loaded single to bring home a pair of runs and give CSP the decisive advantage. Andrew Shotwell added his first home run of the season and Ben Suits launched his first career homer to round out the scoring for the Golden Bears.