ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (16-9, 7-6 NSIC) has a quick turnaround as they remain on the road to take on University of Mary (8-14, 4-6 NSIC) in a mid-week doubleheader on Wednesday at 10 a.m. at Sanford Sports Complex in Bismarck, N.D.
 
SCHEDULE INFORMATION
With UMary's home field, Bismarck Municipal Ballpark not yet ready for action, the two teams will meet at the Sanford Sports Complex at Legacy High School. First pitch is scheduled for 10 a.m. in game one. Live stats will be available for both contests.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Last week, Concordia finished the week on a five-game winning streak as they bounced back from game one loss to Bemidji State by winning game two and taking all four from Minnesota Duluth on the weekend  


CSP put up an impressive .325/.407/.440 slash line with four homers, seven doubles and a pair of triples on the week. The Golden Bears pitching staff struck out over a batter an inning with 50 strikeouts in 48.0 innings while finishing with a 3.56 ERA and a .283 opponent average.
 
Cole Kirchoff provided a bright spot at the plate as he slashed .429/.467/.714 with three of his six hits going for extra bases to go along with a team-leading three steals. Ryan Christopher hit .474 (9-19) on the week with six RBIs while also adding 6.0 innings of two-hit ball with no earned runs allowed to go along with seven strikeouts in the win over Bemidji State.
 
UMARY SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears have dominated the all-time series with UMary as they have compiled a record of 28-5 in 33 meetings heading into Wednesday. After the two teams split the first six meetings of the series, CSP rattled off 20 wins in a row from 2009 to 2016 before the Marauders broke the streak. Since that UMary victory, Concordia has gone 5-1 in the last six meetings. In 11 neutral site meetings, the Golden Bears hold a record of 10-1.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE MARAUDERS
Back on April 12, 2018, CSP shut out the University of Mary in both games of a doubleheader as they picked up their ninth and 10th shutouts of the season. CSP rolled to a game one win 6-0 before taking game two 7-0.
 
In the doubleheader with UMary, the Golden Bears continue to pile up ridiculous pitching lines as they extended their lead in the nation in shutouts with two more. Incredibly, Concordia has now picked up shutouts in both halves of a doubleheader four times in seven tries in NSIC play.
 
Gus Varland came heartbreakingly close to his second no-hitter in 13 months (and third for the team) as a soft infield single spoiled the bid with two outs in the seventh in what ended up being a one-hit shutout to start the day. Zach Lauzon and Connor Hurley joined in the fun in game two as they combined for a three-hit, nine-inning shutout in game two. Varland dropped his ERA to 0.71 on the season as he picked up his fourth win while Lauzon dropped his down to 2.08 while grabbing his second win. Overall, the staff held the Marauders to an .088 average with no extra-base hits in the two games.
 
The offense came through with a solid day of their own as they had five different hitters pick up at least three hits to finish with a .313 team average. Mickey Leius and Roch Whittaker helped lead the way as Leius had four hits, including two doubles, while driving in two, and Whittaker picked up three hits, two of which were doubles, with three RBIs.