TUCSON, Ariz. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (5-0) erased a six-run deficit to pull out an incredible 23-15 win over Wayne State (6-4) on Tuesday night in the Tucson Invitational Games.
 
After seeing the Wildcats run out to a 9-3 lead through the first three innings, the Golden Bears exploded for 18 runs over the next three innings to completely turn the tables and blow the game open. The Wildcats battled back to make things a little more interesting in the later innings before CSP finished out the wild win.
 
Amazingly, the 38 combined runs scored outmatched the 36 points scored between the two schools scored on the gridiron back on Sept. 20, 2018 in a 29-7 win for the Golden Bears. That game last three hours and 56 minutes due to a one hour and 29 minute rain delay, making it six minutes longer than the three hour and 50 minute game played on the diamond.
 
The 23 runs scored and 26 hits were the most in a game for CSP since picking up a 23-9 win at Bemidji State on April 19, 2014. The Golden Bears also fell two short of the DII-era record at Concordia for runs in a game set in a 25-4 win back on April 14, 2002 at Minnesota-Morris and again on March 2, 2007 as well as one shy of hits in a game set in the 23-9 win over BSU. It was also a noteworthy game on the other side of things as the 15 runs allowed also tied for most given up in a win in the DII-era at CSP.
 
It really was a team effort at the plate for CSP as 17 different players stepped up to the plate and seven delivered at least three hits in the offensive barrage. Patrick Bordewick led the way with a career-best four-hit day as he finished 4-5 with a walk while driving in four runs and scoring four more. The outburst improved the junior shortstop's batting average to an even .500 (9-18) on the season.
 
Ryan Christopher matched the RBI output of Bordewick as he also drove in four to bring his season total to a team-best 11 through the first five games of the year. Christopher also bumped his average up to .412 with three hits in five at-bats.
 
Roch Whittaker continued his impressive run as well by reaching safely five times, going 3-4 with a pair of walks, three runs scored and three RBIs to climb to .471 at the plate on the year. Carter Schmidt and Drew Sannes also put up big games as both contributed three hits and a walk on the day.
 
Among the numerous memorable stat lines from the victory, perhaps the most impressive was Concordia having two players slug three hits in the game after starting the contest on the bench. Both Eathan Soeffker and Kyle Horstmann came in to pinch hit in the fourth inning and took advantage of the opportunity in a big way. Eathan Soeffker picked up his first career hit with a bases clearing double in the sixth before lacing another double in the seventh and adding a single in the eighth for good measure. Horstmann picked up his first career three-hit game as he finished 3-5 with a double to go along with three runs scored. Soeffker was not the only Golden Bear to collect his first career hit in the game as Jarod Wandersee dropped a hustle double in just out of the reach of the second baseman in the eighth.
 
In what was an otherwise forgettable day for both pitching staffs, Nate Stolte (1-0) picked up the win in relief with 3.0 quality innings. The right-hander allowed just one run on three hits while striking out one in his outing. Shane Benson added a solid performance to close out the game as he retired seven straight, including four by strikeout, after walking the first batter he faced.
 
Alex Logelin headlined a solid offensive outing for the Wildcats with four hits, including three doubles, as seven of WSC's top eight hitters registered multi-hit games.
 
The Golden Bears got off to a fast start with a pair of runs in the top of the first, but quickly saw the lead disappear with the Wildcats scoring two in their half of the first and four more in the second to jump ahead 6-2 through two innings. CSP grabbed one back on a Drew Sannes RBI single in the top of the third, but Wayne State responded once again with three more to put CSP in a deep hole down 9-3 heading to the fourth.
 
From there, the Concordia bats came alive. Bordewick put the Golden Bears on the board with a two-run single in the fourth before Whittaker added an RBI single of his own and Sannes drove in two more with a double to close the gap to one at 9-8 heading to the fifth. Whittaker picked up another RBI with a game-tying walk in the top of the fifth before Christopher put Concordia in front with a huge two-run single.
 
If things weren't wild enough to that point, they got even crazier in the sixth as CSP hammered out 10 runs in the frame while nearly batting around twice with 17 hitters coming to bat. Schmidt got the scoring started with an RBI double to deep center before Hormann drove in another with a fielder's choice in which no out was recorded. Bordewick, Whittaker and Christopher kept the line moving with three straight RBI hits to set up Soeffker's three-run double. Steckler then chipped in an RBI single of his own before Hormann and Bordewick drew bases-loaded walks to bring the run total to 21 in the game and 10 in the inning.
 
The two teams then traded runs in each of the next two half innings to make it 22-10 heading to the last half of the seventh as CSP looked to finish it off via the run rule. The Wildcats had other plans with five runs in the fifth to close the deficit to seven, but an RBI single for Steven Nessler in the eighth brought the final margin to eight at 23-15.
 
CSP faces another NSIC foe tomorrow as they take on St. Cloud State at 5 p.m.