ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (13-9, 6-6 NSIC) has had their mid-week series with the University of Mary (2-26, 0-18 NSIC) pushed back to Thursday and moved to Veterans Field at Minnetonka High School. First pitch in game one is scheduled for 9 a.m.
SCHEDULE INFORMATION
The Golden Bears are set to make their fifth trip to Minnetonka High School this season as they take on the Marauders on Thursday morning. The doubleheader was originally scheduled for Wednesday afternoon in Bismarck, N.D., but weather conditions on both campuses necessitated a switch to a neutral site. The two teams will get started early on Thursday with game one set to begin at 9 a.m. U-Mary will be the home team in both contests.
LAST TIME OUT
Concordia was swept by Minnesota State in Plattsmouth, Nebraska on Thursday in the team's only two games of the week. The Golden Bears also had a four-game weekend series with Minot State on the schedule but were unable to play those contests due to inclement weather.
CSP was limited to just 10 hits in 54 at-bats (.185) while scoring just three runs in the two games against the Mavericks. The Golden Bears struggled in the field with six errors, resulting in nine unearned runs over the two game span.
KINGS OF THE HILL
The Golden Bear pitching staff has been dominant so far this year as they rank near the top of the country in several statistical categories on the mound. CSP leads the country with eight shutouts while also ranking ninth in ERA (3.13), 10th in hits allowed per nine innings (7.87 per 9), 13th in strikeouts per nine innings (10.0) and 19th in WHIP (1.31). Concordia also has an individual statistical leader in the country as
Louie Varland leads the nation with his 0.39 ERA.
Gus Varland also ranks near the top of the nation in several statistical categories as his 0.87 ERA puts him in sixth in the nation while his 5.52 hits allowed per nine innings ranks 14
th and his 0.90 WHIP ranks 19
th.
Zach Lauzon also ranks in the top-20 in a pitching category as his 12.69 strikeouts per nine innings ranks 17th. If he qualified,
Josh Gaworski would lead the country in hits allowed per nine innings at 2.75. Gaworski's 0.46 ERA would also rank second in the nation and his 0.86 WHIP would rank ninth
At the plate, CSP has another player ranking near the top as
Carter Schmidt was the second-hardest hitter to strike out in the country heading into the weekend with just two strikeouts in 74 at-bats.
U-MARY SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have dominated the all-time series with U-Mary as they have compiled a record of 26-5 in 31 meetings heading into Thursday. After the two teams split the first six meetings of the series, CSP rattled off 20 wins in a row from 2009 to 2016 before the Marauders broke the streak. Since that U-Mary victory, Concordia has gone 3-1 in the last four meetings. In nine neutral site meetings, the Golden Bears hold a record of 8-1.
LAST MEETING WITH THE MARAUDERS
Last year at Barnes Field, Concordia bounced back from an 8-5 loss in game one to take game two 11-1 in seven innings for the doubleheader split with U-Mary.
The offense put up a big performance in both games as the team hammered out 22 hits, 11 in each, en route to scoring 16 runs.
Tanner Holmquist played a big role in the offensive outburst with five hits in seven at-bats while driving in four runs.
Carter Schmidt added four hits of his own, including his first home run of the year in game two.
In game two, the Golden Bear pitching staff combined for a stingy performance, holding the Marauders to just one run on seven hits while walking two and striking out five.
Connor Hurley picked up the start, working the first 3.0 innings, allowing just one run on two hits.
Kevin Woebke picked up the win as he hurled three shutout innings with a pair of strikeouts and a pair of pickoffs.
Gus Varland worked around two baserunners in a shutout seventh to finish it off.
