MINNETONKA, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (13-5, 6-2 NSIC) made it eight shutout wins in their last 10 games as they blanked Bemidji State (4-14, 2-4 NSIC) in Tuesday's doubleheader at Veterans Field. CSP cruised to a 9-0 win in game one before taking game two 4-0.
 
Concordia's pitching staff continued their incredible run with two more shutouts on the day, giving them six in their eight conference games and eight in their last 10 overall. Josh Gaworski and Louie Varland matched each other with complete game shutouts as they allowed a combined seven hits in 16.0 innings with 17 strikeouts. The outings lowered the team's overall ERA to 2.74 with an opponent average of .228 on the season. CSP's top four starters have been even better as a group as Gaworski, both Varland brothers and Zach Lauzon have combined for a 1.02 ERA in 88.1 innings of work.
 
The offense came out swinging in the first of the two games with nine runs on 14 hits before the team scratched out enough to win with four runs on five hits in game two. Carter Schmidt, Connor Trygstad, Drew Sannes and Roch Whittaker all paced the squad with three hits in the doubleheader.
 
The Golden Bears improve to 39-24 in the all-time series as they have now won nine in a row against BSU since 2015.
 
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 9, Bemidji State 0
Coming off a no-hitter in his last outing, Josh Gaworski (3-0) nearly made it two in a row as he came within five outs of another. The junior transfer completed a three-hit shutout to lower his already microscopic ERA to 0.47 as he has allowed just one run through his first 19.0 innings in navy and gold. Gaworski also walked five while striking out seven in the win.
 
While the pitching remained dominant, the bats came to life as the team hammered out 14 hits and nine runs in six trips to the plate. Eight of the nine starters registered hits, including five with multi-hit efforts, in a balanced offensive attack. Connor Trygstad led the way by going 3-4 with a pair of runs scored while Tanner Holmquist went 24 with a double and three driven in. Roch Whittaker also reached safely three times with two hits and a walk in addition to an RBI and a run scored.
 
The Golden Bears did most of their damage against BSU starter Connor McNallan (1-3) as they chased him after four innings. The right-hander allowed 12 hits and six runs as he took the loss.
 
Things got off to a bit of a rocky start for Concordia as the leadoff hitter reached second base on dropped pop up to put a runner in scoring position with nobody out. It proved not to be a problem as Gaworski retired the next three in order to keep Bemidji State off the board.
 
Concordia opened the scoring in their half of the inning as back-to-back one out singles for Trygstad and Carter Schmidt followed by a fielder's choice put runners on the corners with two down. Trygstad came in to score from third on a double steal attempt as he crossed the plate before Isaac Hormann was tagged out at second base to end the inning.
 
After three strikeouts for Gaworski in the top of the second, CSP added to their lead with two more runs in the bottom of the second. Drew Sannes and Holmquist opened the frame with two straight singles before being moved into scoring position with a sacrifice bunt off the bat of Mickey Leius. Whittaker picked up an RBI with a solid single to right before Patrick Bordewick added another with a groundout. Two more reached in the inning as Whittaker was thrown out at the plate trying to score from second on another Trygstad hit.
 
Gaworski ran into a bit of trouble in the third with a pair of two-out walks and a hit by pitch before picking up a fielder's choice to end the inning. He bounced back with a 1-2-3 fourth to keep the score at 3-0 heading to the bottom of the inning as the offense started to put the game away.
 
Six of the first seven hitters picked up singles for Concordia in the fourth as Connor Olson drove in two with a single while Hormann added a run-scoring hit of his own to push it to 6-0.
 
The dramatics then shifted to whether Gaworski was going to complete the no-hitter until Noah Boser finally broke it up with a solid single up the middle in the top of the sixth with one down.
 
The offense gave him a bit more insurance in the bottom of the frame as Holmquist came through with a deep double to the right center gap to score three and bring the total to the final of 9-0.
 
The shutout was nearly ruined in the seventh with two hits and a walk, but a strong relay cut down a runner caught between third and home to end it.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 4, Bemidji State 0
Louie Varland was not to be outdone by Josh Gaworski as he put up a complete game shutout of his own in the nine-inning contest. The sophomore was overpowering throughout as he scattered four hits and two walks while striking out a career-best 10. Varland's impressive start to the season continues as he extends his personal scoreless inning streak to 21.0 on the year as he has not allowed a single run in any of his three starts.
 
It was a bit of a grind offensively in game two as CSP was held without a hit until the fifth, but the Golden Bears persevered and put runs on the board in the fifth, seventh and eighth innings to claim the victory.
 
Drew Sannes was the lone Golden Bear to log a multi-hit game as he picked up a pair of singles and two RBIs to go along with a run scored. Roch Whittaker also added an RBI single in the win.
 
The two pitchers matched zeroes with very little in the form of threats through the first four and a half innings as the score remained 0-0 heading to the bottom of the fifth.
 
Bemidji State's Jake Olson matched Varland through the early innings as he took a no-hitter into the fifth, but he was unable to hold on as CSP scored two runs (one earned) in his 7.0 innings of work. Olson struck out one and allowed three hits in the tough luck loss.
 
Sannes broke up the no-hit bid with a leadoff single before moving up to second on a Holmquist bunt. Whittaker once again came through with a big hit as he looped a single down the left field line to drive in Sannes and put CSP out front 1-0.
 
Concordia took advantage of a Bemidji State miscue in the seventh to add a second run as a throwing error from third that skipped past the first baseman and allowed Leius to score from second on the play.
 
CSP further added to their lead in the eighth with Sannes coming through with a two-out single to center to drive in both Hormann and Trygstad to double the lead and bring it to the final of 4-0.
 
The Golden Bears are scheduled to hit the road for the first time of the conference season this weekend as they take on Southwest Minnesota State on Friday and Saturday. Check back to cspbears.com for any potential schedule changes for the four-game series.