TUCSON, Ariz. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (4-0) scored three in the ninth to stay unbeaten with a 6-3 win over Concordia-Nebraska (5-6) on Monday night.
 
The Golden Bears saw the Bulldogs erase their lead in both the seventh and the eighth, but they were unable to deliver the final blow in the ninth to make it four straight wins to start the year. CSP improves to 4-0 for the first time since the 2016 season.
 
While the pitching staff delivered another solid performance, the offense broke out with 12 hits and six runs to help guide the team to victory. The three and four hitters, Roch Whittaker and Patrick Bordewick, combined for half of the team's hits as both collected three hits in the contest. Whittaker added a walk, an RBI and a run scored to finish the day 3-4 while bumping his average to .385 on the year.
 
Ryan Christopher continued to show extra-base pop as he tripled for the third game in a row while driving in two huge insurance runs in the ninth. The sophomore picked up his first multi-hit performance of the year, going 2-5 out of the nine hole. Isaac Hormann proved to be a tough out as well by drawing three walks and adding a hit, an RBI and a run scored while Carter Schmidt, Ben Suits and Cole Kirchoff all had a hit and a walk as well.
 
Golden Bear starter Josh Gaworski gave the team a solid 5.0 innings in a no-decision as he held a potent CUNE lineup to just two hits and a run while walking one and striking out six. Blake Stelzer (1-0) followed with 3.0 innings of relief, allowing a pair of runs (one earned) on four hits with two strikeouts to pick up the win. Shane Benson came on to work the ninth as he worked around two baserunners to nail down his first save of the year.
 
CSP grabbed an early lead in the top of the first as Hormann drew a one-out walk before coming around to score on a solid single to left for Whittaker. Bordewick followed with a single to set up a perfectly executed double steal with runners on first and third to bring in Whittaker.
 
Gaworski was greeted with a leadoff double to start the bottom half of the frame, but he worked out of the jam to maintain the 2-0 edge. The right-hander got into a groove from there as he retired 10 in a row until hitting a batter to start the fifth.
 
The hit batter proved to be a rally starter for Concordia-Nebraska as they followed it up with a single and a sacrifice bunt to put a pair in scoring position with one down. Gaworski then forced a sacrifice fly before inducing an inning-ending ground ball two batters later to keep the Golden Bears in front with a score of 2-1.
 
After threatening again in the sixth, the Bulldogs tied the game up in the seventh. CUNE took advantage of a Golden Bear miscue as an errant throw to first on a pickoff attempt put a runner on third to set up a game-tying sacrifice fly to left.
 
Concordia quickly regained the lead in the next half inning as a pair of seniors combined for a two-out rally to push across a run. With two down and nobody on, Carter Schmidt lined a single up the middle before stealing second to set the table for Hormann. The Golden Bear second baseman worked the count full before coming through with a single to left to bring in Schmidt.
 
The lead proved to be short-lived this time around as back-to-back one-out hits, including an RBI double just inside the line in left field, evened the score at 3-3. Stelzer was able to hold it there, however, as he sandwiched a strikeout and a foul out around a walk to end the inning.
 
The Golden Bears showed their resilience as they answered CUNE for the second consecutive inning, this time claiming the decisive edge. Picking up his third hit of the day, Whittaker got the inning started with a single before a Ben Suits infield single and a Cole Kirchoff walk loaded the bases with one out. The Bulldogs picked up a huge strikeout to pull within an out of getting out of the jam, but a wild pitch on the first pitch to Christopher allowed the go-ahead run to score. Christopher then put it out of reach with his third triple in two days with a line drive to the wall in right center to score two more.
 
Concordia-Nebraska brought the tying run to the plate in their half of the ninth with a walk and a single, but Benson got the groundball he needed as he coaxed a third-to-first game-ending double play.
 
The Golden Bears face their first NSIC opponent of the trip tomorrow as they take on Wayne State at 4 p.m.