SIOUX FALLS, S.D. – The fifth-seeded Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (24-14) knocked off fourth-seeded Minnesota State (31-15) by a score of 7-4 in the opening round of the NSIC Baseball Tournament on Wednesday afternoon at Sioux Falls Stadium.
 
With the win, the Golden Bears will face eighth-seeded Northern State (21-18) on Thursday afternoon at 3:30 p.m. at Karras Park on the campus of Augustana University in a winner's bracket contest. CSP and NSU did not meet in NSIC play this season, but the two teams did split a non-conference doubleheader back on March 10 in Tucson, Ariz.
 
Concordia improves to 12-17 in their 11 trips to the NSIC Tournament as they claimed their second opening round win over the Mavericks in the past three seasons. The last time CSP accomplished that feat in 2016 they reached the NSIC Championship game in St. Cloud.
 
Timely hitting played a major role in the game as the Golden Bears turned 10 hits into seven runs while the Mavericks were held to just four runs despite hammering out 15 hits. CSP finished with six left on base compared to a massive 12 for MSU.
 
Zach Lauzon (4-4) was tremendous in limiting the damage as he scattered eight hits and a walk while allowing two runs in his 6.0 innings of work. The junior continued to flash swing-and-miss stuff as he struck out seven to bring his season total to 66 strikeouts in 49.2 innings.
 
The bullpen worked similar magic as Connor Hurley allowed just one run on three hits and a walk over 2.0 innings before Riley Sweeney worked around four hits to give up just one run in the ninth.
 
The offense came from everywhere in the lineup as each of the top eight hitters either scored or drove in a run and each of the top seven hitters registered at least one hit on the day.
 
Connor Olson continued his late season surge by going 1-3 with his sixth home run on the year as he scored twice and drove in one. Isaac Hormann peppered the gaps as he picked up a team-best three hits, including two doubles, while scoring once. Carter Schmidt added two doubles of his own as he picked up an RBI and a run scored.
 
Concordia handed All-NSIC First Teamer Dalton Roach (8-2) just his third loss over the past two seasons as they hung four runs in 7.0 innings on the senior right-hander. Roach allowed a total of eight hits while he walked none and he struck out five in the loss. CSP added three more runs on MSU reliever Carlo Graffeo to bring the total to seven in the game.
 
The Golden Bears wasted little time to jump on Roach as Hormann led off with a pop fly single that dropped behind third base before being replaced at first by Tanner Holmquist on a fielder's choice. Schmidt followed with the key blow as he drove a line drive double to the left center gap to score Holmquist and give CSP a 1-0 edge. Schmidt ended up being stranded at second as Concordia was forced to settle with one run in the opening frame.
 
Lauzon ran into some trouble in the second inning as he allowed singles to two of the first three hitters in the inning before a walk loaded the bases with one out. The CSP hurler came through in a big way as he induced a pop fly just outside the infield grass before picking up his second strikeout of the contest to end the inning.
 
The Mavericks did manage to tie the score one inning later as they put a run on the board in the bottom half of the third. Josh Wenzel led off the frame with triple before coming around to score with an RBI single off the bat of Jordan Hart. Lauzon the coaxed an inning-ending double play to limit the damage and keep it even at 1-1.
 
The score remained even until the sixth when Concordia broke through for their second run of the afternoon. Isaac Hormann set up Holmquist with a line drive double to the left center gap before Holmquist lined a shot to center to score him.
 
The lead proved to be short-lived as MSU picked up one of their own in their half of the sixth. Noah Bluth picked up a leadoff single and moved up to third following a sacrifice bunt and a wild pitch. Lauzon picked up a big strikeout to come within an out of working out of the jam, but Dylan Dresel legged out an infield single to score Bluth.
 
Concordia rebounded quickly as they jumped back out front two batters into the seventh. Olson worked the count full before launching a deep shot over the high left field wall. Connor Trygstad and Roch Whittaker followed suit as Trygstad laced a single to right before Whittaker roped and opposite field double to score him and push the lead to 4-2.
 
After a quick 1-2-3 seventh for Hurley, the Golden Bears were at it again in the eighth. After two quick outs, Carter Schmidt nearly put one over the wall in left as he cruised in with a double. Sannes and Olson followed with walks to load the bases for Trygstad. The DH hit a high hopper to first base that snuck under the first baseman's glove and allowed two runs to cross the plate. Whittaker then drew another walk to re-load the bases for Mickey Leius, who took four straight pitches for an RBI walk to bring the score to 7-2 with an inning and a half to play.
 
Minnesota State got a run back on a deep home run off the bat of Jordan Hart on the second pitch of the inning, but that proved to be all. MSU followed the homer with back-to-back singles to put two on with nobody out, but a double play and a groundout held the score at 7-3 heading to the ninth.
 
The Golden Bears threatened to add to their lead in the top of the ninth with a leadoff double for Hormann, but he remained there as CSP took a 7-3 advantage into the last half of the inning.
 
The Mavericks put the pressure on in the game's final half inning as Josh Wenzel opened with a double before scoring on a Ty Buck RBI single. A Hart single brought the tying run to the plate with just one out before Sweeney picked up a strikeout to bring CSP within an out of victory. Another single loaded the bases and brought the winning run up to bat in the form of Luke Waldek. After falling behind 2-0 in the count, Sweeney coaxed a grounder to the third to seal the 7-4 victory and move Concordia into the winner's bracket.