ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (17-13, 11-7 NSIC) came within six outs of the sweep before settling for a doubleheader split at St. Cloud State on Friday evening. The Golden Bears rolled to an 8-5 win in the opener before dropping game two 5-4.
 
Concordia led for much of the day as they held edges in hits (24-20), runs (12-10), home runs (2-0), and walks (5-3) on the offensive side and ERA (3.60-5.62) batting average against (.328-.338) on the pitching side, but saw the Huskies pull ahead in the eighth inning of game two to salvage a split.
 
Mickey Leius had a big day going 4-7 with a homer and three RBI while Ben Suits also chipped in four hits in nine trips while driving in two.
 
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 8, St. Cloud State 5
The duo of Mickey Leius and Zach Elder that carried the load in game one as the pair combined for five hits, including a pair of homers, while scoring five times and driving in four as CSP held off the Huskies in the first game of the series.
 
Leius finished 3-4 with a go-ahead three-run homer, his first as a Golden Bear, as he picked up hits in each of his first three trips. Elder picked up a pair of hits in three at-bats, including his team-leading ninth homer of the season, as he reached base safely all four trips en route to scoring four runs.
 
Ben Suits added a double and two hits whole Connor Olson also picked up a pair of hits as well.
 
The offensive output proved to be enough for Gus Varland as he grinded his way through 4.2 innings to pick up his fifth win of the year. Varland (5-2) allowed five runs (two earned) and seven hits while striking out three in the start.
 
Jake Kounkel came on to work the final 2.1 innings and was nearly unhittable as he picked up his fourth save. The senior right-hander made it six consecutive scoreless outing to lower his season ERA to 1.64. Kounkel's only runs allowed through 11.0 innings came in game two on the opening day of the season against SCSU.
 
Austin Caspersen (4-1) lasted just 3.1 innings in the start for St. Cloud State as he gave up five runs on six hits to take the loss.
                                      
It was the Golden Bears who struck first as they jumped ahead 1-0 in the top of the second. Zach Elder got the rally started with a one-out walk before Leius singled to center to put a pair on with less than two outs. After a fly out moved up Elder to third, the Golden Bears took advantage of the first and third situation as Leius got caught in a rundown between first and second to give Elder time to cross the plate.
 
The Huskies broke through against Varland in the third to take the lead after being held scoreless through the first two innings. The first three hitters all reached base as Ethan Ibarra walked and Judd Davis doubled before Cooper Maas drove in Ibarra with a single. Varland limited the damage from there as Mitch Mallek's RBI groundout was the only other run to score in the inning.
 
SCSU's lead lasted just three batters into the next half inning as Ben Suits led off with a double before Elder reached on an error to set up Leius. The junior third baseman followed with his first career home run for CSP before Tanner Holmquist added a two-out run-scoring single later in the inning to push the Golden Bear lead to 5-2 after three and a half innings.
 
Singles from Elder and Leius to begin the fifth set up their sixth run of the game as Patrick Bordewick followed with an RBI groundout to extend the CSP advantage to four, but the Huskies closed the gap in the bottom of the inning.
 
Four straight hitters reached base for the Huskies with one out as they took advantage of an error, a single and a hit by pitch before Zach Metzger drove in a run with a single of his own. After Varland coaxed a fly out, Bo Schmitz delivered a two-run single to cut the deficit to one at 6-5. Kounkel then came on to pick up a strikeout to end the rally.
 
The one-run lead held until the top of the seventh when Elder gave the Golden Bears a pair of important insurance runs. After Suits singled Elder went deep to give Kounkel a three-run cushion at 8-5 heading into the bottom of the seventh.
 
After a leadoff walk in the bottom of the inning, Kounkel faced the minimum as he collected a strikeout before a game-ending double play closed it out.
 
GAME TWO: St. Cloud State 5, Concordia-St. Paul 4
The Golden Bears jumped ahead in the fourth and remained in position to take two from the Huskies until the bottom of the eighth when St. Cloud State scored a pair of runs to take a decisive 5-4 advantage.
 
CSP stranded 10 runners in game two as they picked up 12 hits, all singles, but scored just four runs in the game. Adam Hildebrandt and Carter Schmidt contributed half of the team's 12 hits with three apiece while Ben Suits made it two straight two-hit games. Hildebrandt scored twice, Schmidt scored one and drove in one, and Suits drove in two.
 
Kevin Woebke scattered nine hits in his 6.0 innings of work as he allowed three runs and struck out two before departing with the lead. Josh Lenz (2-2) took the loss after allowing a pair of eighth-inning runs (one earned) in his 2.0 innings of relief.
 
The decision also came from the bullpen for St. Cloud State as Kyle Boser (1-0) picked up the win after throwing 1.2 shutout innings in relief of starter Aaron Hammann. Miles Nablo  picked up the save with a 1-2-3 ninth.
 
The two pitchers avoided trouble throughout the first few innings until the Huskies scored a pair in the bottom of the third. Bo Schmitz came through with the big hit in the inning as he drove in two with a two-out triple to put SCSU in front.
 
Concordia responded in the fourth as they opened the inning with four singles in a row. Hildebrandt and Tanner Holmquist started things off before Carter Schmidt and Ben Suits each followed with run-scoring singles of their own. Patrick Bordewick added an RBI fielder's choice later in the inning to put CSP in front 3-2.
 
The Golden Bears added to that lead in the fifth as Hildebrandt, Schmidt and Suits all singled for the second inning in a row to make it 4-2 midway through the game.
 
The gap shrunk back to one in the bottom of the inning as Mathew Meyer drove in Judd Davis with a single, but Woebke picked up a double play to keep CSP in front.
 
Both teams put on runners over the next few innings but the score remained 4-3 heading into the bottom of the eighth. Logan Swann led off the inning with a single before moving up two bases on a wild pitch to put the tying run in scoring position with nobody out. Mitch Mallek followed by reaching on an error, allowing Swann to score. Cooper Maas followed with another hit before Trevor Cho bunted both runners into scoring position. Ethan Ibarra then delivered the decisive blow with a sacrifice fly before a strikeout ended the inning.
 
Nablo made quick work of the Golden Bears in the ninth as he coaxed a groundout, pop out and strikeout to salvage the doubleheader split.
 
The two teams will meet again tomorrow for another doubleheader at Joe Faber Field set to begin at 1:30 p.m.