BELLEVUE, Neb. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (11-5, 3-2 NSIC) used two runs in the sixth and two in seventh to claim a 4-2 game two win after dropping game one 6-0 to claim a split with Minot State (7-7, 1-1 NSIC) on Thursday afternoon at Bellevue West High School.
 
The Golden Bears were held scoreless for the first 12 innings of the day, but came through when it mattered with four late runs in the second game of the day to pick up a win.
 
GAME ONE: Minot State 6, Concordia-St. Paul 0
In the first game of the day, the Golden Bears fell behind early and were unable to answer as the Beavers cruised to a 6-0 victory.
 
Jaymon Cervantes (3-0) kept the CSP hitters off-balanced as he scattered four hits in the shutout win. The right-hander didn't walk anyone while striking out seven in his 7.0 innings of work.
 
Josh Gaworski (1-1) took the loss for the Golden Bears as he allowed two runs on two hits in 4.0 innings with four strikeouts. Luke DeGrammont followed with 3.0 innings in relief.
 
Concordia had four different players tally hits as Cole Kirchoff, Jarod Wandersee and Jake Steckler all went 1-2 while Patrick Bordewick went 1-3. Kirchoff added a stolen base as well.
 
The Beavers opened the scoring early as a leadoff double for Trevaun Smith followed by a steal set up a run-scoring fly out two batters later to make it 1-0.
 
Minot State continued to add breathing room from there with single runs in the fourth, fifth and sixth and two in seventh. Darrel Doll made it 2-0 with a sacrifice fly in the fourth before Michael Borst added an RBI groundout in the fifth to extend the lead to three. Doll was back at it again in the sixth as he launched a solo homer to center. In the seventh, Borst picked up another RBI as well with a run-scoring single to right before coming around to score on a Celestino Rodriguez RBI double.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 4, Minot State 2
Concordia found themselves in an early hole again in the second contest as Minot scored one in the second and held a 1-0 lead into the sixth, but back-to-back two-run innings gave CSP the decisive advantage.
 
Six of the team's eight hits came in the sixth and seventh as the Golden Bears took advantage of their opportunities. Seven of the nine starters registered at least a hit in the game as Roch Whittaker was the lone Concordia with two hits in the game. Ryan Christopher, the team's starting pitcher, continued to drive in runs at an impressive clip at the plate as he collected two of the team's three RBIs to move into a tie for fifth in the NSIC with 18 RBIs on the year. Drew Sannes picked up the other RBI with a run-scoring triple.
 
Christopher added to his strong performance at the plate with perhaps an even better performance on the mound. The sophomore did not allow an earned run and limited the high-powered Beavers to just three hits in his 6.0 innings in a no-decision. Christopher walked four and struck out six.
 
Blake Stelzer (2-0) added a stellar effort out of the bullpen as he retired nine of the 10 hitters he faced, allowing just a solo home run to pick up the win. The CSP reliever struck out two and walked none over 3.0 innings.
 
RJ Martinez (1-1) started off strong for the Beavers with five straight shutout innings before running into trouble. The left-hander was tagged for four runs (three earned) on eight hits with seven strikeouts to take the loss.
 
Minot State waited an inning longer to put the first run on the board in game two as they jumped out to a 1-0 lead in the second. With a runner on first and two down, Trevaun Smith reached on a misplayed fly ball to right that allowed the runner to come all the way around and score.
 
That proved to be the only scoring until the sixth when the Golden Bears finally broke through for the first time of the day. Whittaker opened the frame with a double down the line before Christopher added a double to the left center gap one batter later to tie the game at 1-1. After two quick outs, Sannes contributed the third extra-base hit of the inning with a triple down the right field to put CSP in front.
 
The lead lasted just two batters into the seventh, however, as Wyatt Schlosser sent the 11^th pitch of the at-bat off the scoreboard in right field to tie the score at 2-2.
 
The Concordia bats came back alive in their half of the seventh as they doubled their run total to build the decisive 4-2 lead. Carter Schmidt and Isaac Hormann go the rally started with a pair of singles through the infield before Patrick Bordewick delivered a perfect bunt for a hit to load the bases. Minot State picked up a huge out with a strikeout, but Christopher kept the inning alive by beating out a potential double play to allow the go-ahead run to score. A Minot State error on a Kirchoff grounder one batter later gave CSP an important two-run cushion with two to play.
 
Stelzer slammed the door shut from there as the right-hander retired the side in order in both the eighth and ninth.
 
CSP is scheduled for a weekend home series against Minnesota Crookston this Saturday and Sunday. Check back for any schedule updates.