WAYNE, Neb. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (20-19, 11-16 NSIC) picked up a doubleheader split on the road at Wayne State (30-13, 21-9 NSIC) as they grabbed a 9-1 game one win before dropping game two 11-0 in seven innings on Wednesday afternoon.
 
Concordia saw their eight game winning streak in the all-time series with WSC come to a close with the game two loss as the Golden Bears moved to 15-34 in 49 meetings with the Wildcats.
 
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 9, Wayne State 1
After a quiet start to the contest, Concordia's bats exploded for nine runs over the final five innings, scoring at least two runs in four different innings, to roll to a comfortable win in the first game of the day.
 
Concordia saw production from up and down the lineup with eight different players collecting hits, seven different players scoring runs and six different players driving in runs in the win. Ben Suits helped lead the way by reached base safely three times, going 2-3 with a double and three RBIs. Carter Schmidt added a three-hit day with a pair of runs scored as well while Patrick Bordewick drove in two with a triple. Isaac Hormann and Jarod Wandersee each added a run scored and an RBI in the contest.
 
The offensive outburst was more than enough for Louie Varland (4-4) as the junior right-hander shut down the Wildcats in the win. Varland worked a complete game victory with just one run and five hits allowed and nine strikeouts in his 7.0 innings of work. The nine strikeout performance was his third of the year and fifth with eight or more.
 
WSC's Josh Renken (0-1) took the loss as the Golden Bears chased the Wildcat starter after 2.1 innings as he allowed three runs on three hits and two walks.
 
After a scoreless first two innings, the Golden Bears jumped out front with three runs in the third. A Wandersee walk and a Carter Schmidt single followed by a sacrifice bunt set up Bordewick's two-run triple to open the scoring. Suits followed with a run-scoring hit of his own as he drove in Bordewick with a single to right center to extend the lead to 3-0.
 
The Wildcats finally broke through against Varland an inning later as a Bryce Bisenius leadoff triple in the bottom of the fourth led to a Travis Miller RBI single to trim the margin to 3-1 heading to the fifth.
 
CSP answered right back a half an inning later with two runs to push their lead to 5-1. Schmidt and Hormann got the inning started with back-to-back singles to set things up for Suits. Suits delivered his second run-scoring hit of the game with a two-run double to give the Golden Bears a four-run edge.
 
Concordia tacked on a pair of insurance runs in the sixth to put the game further out of reach for WSC. This time it was Wandersee who delivered the run-scoring hit with a single before Hormann made it 7-1 with a successful squeeze bunt two batters later.
 
The Golden Bears continued the offensive outburst one inning later with two more runs as they built the decisive margin at 9-1. Tom Austin drove in the first run of the inning with an RBI single before Drew Sannes added another with an RBI single of his own to round out the scoring.
 
GAME TWO: Wayne State 11, Concordia-St. Paul 0 (7 inn.)
Game two proved to be a completely different story as it was the Wildcats who built an early lead and cruised to victory. WSC put up four in the first, five in the second and two in the third to secure the split on the day.
 
Wayne State starting pitcher Ryan Obrecht (7-0) came within three outs of a no hitter as he held the Golden Bears hitless through six frames. It was a Kyle Horstmann leadoff infield single in the seventh that broke up the bid. Ben Suits also drew a walk and Steven Nessler reached on an error in the game. Obrecht struck out 10 in the 7.0 inning shutout.
 
Zach Lauzon (2-3) took the loss as he worked the first 1.2 innings, striking out two. Ross Bastyr, Ray Wellner and Shane Benson all contributed scoreless innings in relief in the game.
 
Wayne State wasted little time grabbing the lead as a two-run Andrew Hanson single highlighted a four-run first. Hanson was right back at it in the second with an RBI double before Barnes brought home two more with a double of his own. A Garrett Graveline RBI hit and a run scored on a balk put the Wildcats out front 9-0 after two frames. The lead reached double figures an inning later as WSC added two more, including one on a Travis Miller RBI single to make it 11-0.
 
It was all zeroes from there as three CSP relievers delivered scoreless innings while Obrecht continued to blank Concordia and bring the run rule into play.
 
The Golden Bears return home this weekend for their final home series of the season. CSP is currently scheduled to take on Minnesota State in a doubleheader on Saturday and a single game on Sunday. Sunday also represents Senior Day for CSP.