MINNETONKA, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (19-18, 10-15 NSIC) scored twice in the ninth of a 3-2 walk-off win in game two to pick up a split on the day with Upper Iowa (9-21, 6-19 NSIC) at Veterans Field on Tuesday morning.
 
After the Peacocks took the lead with a run in the top of the ninth, the Golden Bears showed their resilience in the bottom of the inning as Cole Kirchoff tied it with a triple and Tom Austin won it with a sacrifice fly.
 
GAME ONE: Upper Iowa 11, Concordia-St. Paul 0
The Golden Bears quickly found themselves in a deep hole early in the first game of the day as the Peacocks scored three in the first and seven in the second and they were unable to recover as Upper Iowa cruised to a comfortable victory.
 
Isaac Hormann provided a bright spot at the plate as he reached base safely all three times up, collecting a double, a single and a walk. Eathan Soeffker added a double of his own while Jarod Wandersee added a single to round out the offense.
 
Connor Hurley (0-1) lasted just 1.0+ inning in the start as he was tagged with the loss. Ray Wellner added a solid outing out of the bullpen with 3.1 scoreless innings as he allowed just two hits and struck out five.
 
Duncan Snider (2-4) picked up the win for the Peacocks as he limited CSP to three hits and two walks with six strikeouts in 6.0 innings of work. Chris Webber struck out three of the four hitters he faced in the seventh to finish off the shutout.
 
AJ Friedrich and Cole Scieszinski got the Peacocks on the board in the first as Friedrich brought in the first run with an RBI single before Scieszinski drove in two more with a single of his own.
 
The Peacocks picked up where they left off in the second as they collected five different run-scoring hits and scored another on a double play to bring the total to 10-0 heading to the home half of the second.
 
The score held until a Jake Dale pinch-hit RBI triple in the top of the seventh brought the score to the final margin of 11-0.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 3, Upper Iowa 2
In what was a pitcher's duel for much of the contest, runs for both teams in the ninth set up a dramatic finish as the Golden Bears claimed game two in walk-off fashion.
 
Cole Kirchoff and Tom Austin played the role of heroes as Kirchoff tripled home pinch-runner Shea Pekarek before Austin drove in Kirchoff with a sac fly to win it. The duo finished with two of the four hits for the team as Ben Suits led off the inning with a single and Roch Whittaker added a single in the third as well. Jarod Wandersee drove in the other run for the team with a sac fly as well.
 
While the offense came alive to give the Golden Bears the victory in the ninth, it was the pitching that kept Concordia in it throughout the contest. Josh Gaworski was stellar in a no decision as he struck out four and scattered six hits while allowing just an unearned run in 7.0 innings. Blake Stelzer (3-0) followed with 2.0 solid innings out of the bullpen as he held the Peacocks to an unearned run on one hit with a pair of strikeouts for the win.
 
UIU starter Blake Thiesse was equally impressive on the other side as he worked 7.0 innings of one-run ball while giving up two hits and striking out four in a no decision. Clayton Lieb was tagged with the loss as he allowed two runs on two hits in 1.2 innings.
 
It took until the bottom of the third for someone to open the scoring in game two as Concordia took a 1-0 lead in their half of the frame. Back-to-back singles for Whittaker and Austin followed by a one-out walk for Hormann loaded the bases. Wandersee followed with a deep fly ball to center for a sacrifice fly to give the Golden Bears the lead.
 
That lead lasted just a half an inning, however, as UIU responded with a run in the top of the fourth. The Peacocks managed to score without the ball leaving the infield with a bunt single for Zac Cain followed by an errant pickoff attempt and a passed ball to set up an AJ Friedrich RBI groundout.
 
The Golden Bears threatened to regain the lead with a walk and a steal for Christopher in their half of the inning before putting two on in the seventh, but they were unable to capitalize as the score remained 1-1 into the ninth.
 
Things took a turn for the worse for CSP to begin the ninth as a one-out fielding error led to a run-scoring triple off the bat of Friedrich to give the Peacocks a 2-1 lead with three outs to go in the game.
 
Concordia did not back down, however, as Suits led off the bottom of the inning with a single before Kirchoff tripled to tie the game with nobody out. After an out at first on a bunt and an intentional walk, Tom Austin stepped up to the plate with the chance to send the Golden Bears home with a win. The senior catcher delivered as he hit a fly ball just deep enough in right to allow Kirchoff to tag and score on the sacrifice fly and seal the CSP victory.
 
The Golden Bears have the weekend off before returning to action at Wayne State next Wednesday with a conference doubleheader.