BISMARCK, N.D. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (17-10, 8-7 NSIC) picked up a mid-week split with University of Mary (9-15, 5-7 NSIC) as they bounced back from a 6-1 game one loss to take game two 7-6 in 11 innings on Wednesday at Sanford Sports Complex.
 
GAME ONE: UMary 6, Concordia-St. Paul 1
With the score even after the first two innings, the Marauders put three on the board in the third and two in the fourth to build the decisive edge in the first game of the day.
 
The Golden Bears were held to six hits in the game as no player registered more than one hit in the game. Drew Sannes picked up the lone run batted in for the squad as he drove in Ben Suits with an RBI single in the second.
 
Ryan Christopher (2-1) took his first loss of the season as the sophomore gave up more than one run for the first time in four starts this season. Christopher struck out five and walked just one in 4.0 innings as he allowed five runs on seven hits. Ross Bastyr added a pair of scoreless frames in relief as he gave up two hits and struck out three.
 
UMary's Jonathan Draheim (2-2) was solid on the hill as he picked up the complete game win with one run allowed on six hits with one walk and five strikeouts in 7.0 innings.
 
UMary took advantage of an error in the outfield for CSP in the opening frame to open the scoring before the Golden Bears evened it up at 1-1 with the Sannes RBI single an inning later.
 
The Marauders took control from there as Jesus Payan tripled home two runs before scoring on a Dalton Sauce RBI groundout in the bottom of the third. Jaxon Ford made it 5-1 with an RBI single one inning later before Darius Barlas brought it to the final score of 6-1 with a run-scoring single of his own.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 7, UMary 6 (11 inn.)
After jumping out to an early lead and remaining out front for much of the contest, the Golden Bears claimed the decisive edge in the 11^th to pick up an extra-inning victory and a split of the day.
 
CSP took advantage of four UMary errors along with eight hits and six walks of their own to score seven runs in the second game of the day. For the second game in a row, Concordia had six different players register hits as Ben Suits and Carter Schmidt led the way with two apiece. Suits also added a walk and a pair of RBIs while Schmidt scored a run. Steven Nessler drove in two runs as he finished 1-4 while Patrick Bordewick drove in a run as well and extended his hitting streak to 16 games.
 
Josh Gaworski got the start for CSP as he worked the first 5.2 innings in a no-decision before giving way to the bullpen. The right-hander struck out seven and allowed four hits in the outing. Blake Stelzer followed with 3.1 innings in relief and did not allow a run until a two-run game-tying homer in the ninth. Those two the only runs allowed by the Golden Bear bullpen as Stelzer struck out seven with no walks in the game. Shane Benson (2-1) followed with an efficient performance to claim the win as he did not allow a hit or a walk over 2.0 innings, striking out three.
 
It was Concordia that struck first in game two as they opened the scoring in the second. Cole Kirchoff got things started with a leadoff walk before singles from Christopher and Suits loaded the bases with nobody out. Back-to-back strikeouts threatened to derail the inning for CSP, but Nessler came through with a two-out, two-run single to give the Golden Bears the lead.
 
The Marauders got one back in their half of the second, but CSP was right back at it in the third. With Hormann and Kirchoff in scoring position with two down in the inning, it was Suits' turn to collect the clutch hit as he delivered a single to right center to bring in both runners.
 
UMary closed the gap to 4-2 in the fourth with a Chris Scott RBI single, but that would be all the damage in the inning as Gaworski held the score there until the sixth.
 
In the sixth, Concordia took advantage of two Marauder errors to score the first run of the inning before Patrick Bordewick brought home another with a run-scoring single to make it 6-2. UMary quickly returned the margin to two in the bottom of the inning as they pushed two runs in, capped by an RBI double for Dalton Sauce.
 
The 6-4 CSP lead held until the bottom of the ninth when Alex Kowski provided some dramatics. Kowski, coming off the bench as a pinch hitter, launched a two-run shot to tie the game at 6-6 and send it to extra innings as he spoiled a dominant relief performance for Blake Stelzer.
 
After a scoreless 10^th, the Golden Bears picked up the go-ahead run in the 11^th to help seal the win. Hormann drew a leadoff walk before pinch runner Jake Steckler was moved up to second on a Bordewick sacrifice bunt. A wild pitch moved him up to third, but a strikeout brought Christopher to the plate with two outs. CSP capitalized on another UMary miscue as an error at second extended the inning and allowed the seven Golden Bear run of the game to score.
 
Benson took care of business in the bottom of the 11^th as he worked his way around an error to close out the win.
 
CSP returns to action this weekend with a three-game series against Northern State.