TUCSON, Ariz. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (5-1) pulled off a pair of dramatic come-from-behind wins to stay unbeaten at the Tucson Invitational Games as they knocked off Dakota Wesleyan (2-8) by a score of 9-8 and Valley City State (4-7) by a score of 8-6 on Thursday night.
 
After leading for much of the first four games of the season, the Golden Bears played from behind for large chunks of both contests on the day before making late pushes to come out on top.
 
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 9, Dakota Wesleyan 8
For the first time all season the Golden Bears found themselves in a deep hole early on as they fell behind 5-0 after four and a half innings and 7-2 after six and a half, but they showed their resilience as they battled back for their third win in a row. Concordia used a huge five-run seventh capped by a Zach Elder pinch-hit homer before taking the lead for good with a pair of runs in the eighth.
 
Concordia's top three in the order combined to go 6-12 with a homer, a double, three walks, three runs scored and three RBIs to lead the offense. While the top of order was productive, the CSP bench was even better as they combined to pick up three hits in four at-bats, including Elder's home run, while scoring three runs. In addition to picking up two hits apiece from Connor Olson, Connor Trygstad and Carter Schmidt, Kyle Horstmann and Drew Sannes also had two hits in the game as well.
 
Ryan Christopher got the start and battled his way through 6.0 innings of work in his collegiate debut, but it was fellow freshman Luke DeGrammont (1-0) that got the win in relief with 2.0 strong innings in his debut. Christopher allowed five earned runs on seven hits while striking out five before DeGrammont worked 2.0 shutout innings with three strikeouts. Shane Benson came on in the ninth to pick up his second save in as many days as he allowed a run in his lone inning of work.
 
Cayden Veland gave DWU 5.0 solid innings in the start, but the bullpen was unable to hold on as Layne Stafford (0-1) took the loss in relief.
 
The Tigers struck first as they took advantage of a CSP miscue to open the scoring in the top of the first. With a runner on second following a one-out double, a soft bouncing ball back to the mound resulted in an errant throw past Suits at first to allow the run to score from second.
 
Two innings later, Dakota Wesleyan took advantage of a two-out rally in the third to add on to their lead. With a runner on second and two down, Branden Oropera looped a double into the gap in right center to drive the team's second run. A single to center one batter later brought home another run to push the lead to 3-0.
 
The lead was increased again in the fifth as Wes Anderson put a ball up into the jet stream for a two-run home run off the scoreboard in left field to extend their advantage to 5-0.
 
After being held scoreless through four innings of play, the Golden Bears finally broke through in their half of the fifth. Drew Sannes got the inning started with a liner to center for a single before moving up to second two pitches later on a wild pitch. Two quick outs threatened to bring the inning to a close, but Olson stepped up to the plate and deposited a 3-2 offering over the wall in left center for a two-run shot. Trygstad and Schmidt kept the inning alive by reaching safely before moving into scoring position on a passed ball, but both were stranded there as DWU maintained a three-run lead.
 
The Tigers wasted little time getting those two runs back as they answered with two of their own in the top of the sixth. Two quick singles aided by a CSP error led to those two runs coming home as the Golden Bears found themselves in a 7-2 hole heading to the bottom of the sixth.
 
Things changed dramatically one inning later in the bottom of the seventh as the Concordia bats came to life. Kyle Horstmann, who came off the bench a few innings earlier, opened the inning with a solid single up the middle before the next two hitters were retired to leave a runner on first with two down. Schmidt and Hormann drew walks to load the bases to set up a line drive single off the pitcher to drive in two. With Concordia still down three, pinch-hitter Zach Elder came through with a massive three-run blast over the left field foul pole to tie the score at 7-7.
 
In the top of the eighth, DeGrammont worked around a double and a walk for his second straight scoreless inning to give Concordia a chance to take the lead in their half of the inning. They did just that after Horstmann picked up another leadoff hit and Olson walked to set the stage for Schmidt's go-ahead double down the left field line. Hormann gave the team a crucial insurance run with another hit to left to drive in Olson as CSP took a 9-7 lead into the ninth.
 
Less than 24 hours after grabbing his first save of the season, Benson was called upon to try to grab another. It proved to be tough sledding as Dakota Wesleyan would not go quietly. A pair of one-out walks sandwiched around a single loaded the bases before a sacrifice fly cut the margin to just one at 9-8. With the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on first, Benson buckled down to close it out to keep CSP unbeaten on the trip.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 8, Valley City State 6
Concordia made it tough on themselves for the second game in a row as they found themselves trailing late in the game before another heroic comeback resulted in a win. Trailing 6-4 heading to the eighth, the Golden Bears scored one in the eighth and three in the ninth to make it four wins in a row.
 
The youth movement continued on the mound as Michael Voss and Ross Bastyr both made their CSP debuts in the nightcap. Voss scattered baserunners through 5.0 innings in the start as he allowed just two runs on six hits with three walks while striking out four. Bastyr (1-0) worked the final 4.0 innings to claim the relief win as he gave up one earned run on four hits to go along with four strikeouts in the win.
 
It was another multi-hit game for Drew Sannes, his third in a row, as he grabbed a pair of triples and two RBIs in the game. Isaac Hormann also had a pair of hits, including the eventual game-winner, while Mickey Leius had two hits as well.
 
Nicholas Vargas limited the Golden Bears to just one earned run in five innings for the Vikings, but the bullpen was unable to hang on as Jacob Miller (0-1) was tagged with the loss.
 
It took until the bottom of the third to break a scoreless tie as the Vikings scored their only two runs against Voss in the inning. VCSU took advantage of three singles and a walk in the frame, capped by a two-run single off the bat of Emmanuel Leyva to take a 2-0 lead.
 
Concordia chipped away with runs in each of the next two innings to tie it up before taking the lead in the sixth. Carter Schmidt and Isaac Hormann put up back-to-back doubles before Schmidt scored on an errant throw after a line out to short one batter later in the fourth to get CSP on the board. A Mickey Leius double to lead off the fifth set up an Olson sacrifice fly to tie it up. An inning later, Sannes hit his first of two triples in the game to drive in Schmidt before scoring on an error to double Concordia's lead to two at 4-2.
 
Valley City State utilized a pair of CSP errors to score three runs off of Bastyr (one earned) and regain the lead in the bottom of the sixth as Voss's bid for his first win was scuttled. They followed with a small ball run in the seventh to take a 6-4 lead with only six outs needed to close out the win.
 
A clutch, two-out RBI triple off the bat of Leius in the eighth brought the Golden Bears within a run, but he was stranded there as CSP went to the ninth still down one.
 
They wasted little time to erase that deficit against VCSU's closer as Olson rolled a single between the shortstop and third basemen to start the top of the ninth. Trygstad followed with a slicing double to the left center gap to score pinch-runner Adam Hildebrandt all the way from first to tie it. Another pinch runner, Steven Nessler, alertly moved from second to third on a wild pitch before coming home on a rope off the bat of Hormann for a single. Sannes then delivered his second triple with two down to bring home Hormann and give Concordia breathing room with an 8-6 lead.
 
Unlike game one, CSP did not need the insurance run as Bastyr retired the side in order to close out the sweep of the day.
 
The Golden Bears will look to keep the winning streak alive at the Tucson Invitational Games tomorrow with a single nine-inning contest against Mount Marty at 4 p.m.