HOPKINS, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (17-12, 8-9 NSIC) was shut out by Northern State (12-14, 7-8 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon at Hopkins High School as the Golden Bears dropped game one 2-0 and game two 1-0.
While the doubleheader started two hours late due to some afternoon rain showers, the bats seemed to stay at home as CSP hit .189 and NSU hit .152 on the day as the two teams combined for just 17 hits over two games. With few opportunities to score in the twin bill, it was the Wolves that took advantage of their opportunities as they managed to push across two runs in the first game and one in the second to claim the sweep.
GAME ONE: Northern State 2, Concordia-St. Paul 0
The Golden Bears fell behind 1-0 in the first inning and saw the Wolves add another run in the third in a low-scoring opener to the series.
Louie Varland (3-3) avoided trouble for much of the contest as he held the Wolves to two runs on six hits in the complete game effort but was outdueled by NSU's John Werner (3-1) in the loss. Varland struck out five and walked one in the game. Werner struck out just two, but gave up just three hits and a pair of walks in the winning effort. John Poldberg pitched a clean seventh inning to grab his second save of the year for the Wolves.
Ryan Christopher picked up the lone extra-base hit for the Golden Bears with a double in the fifth while
Carter Schmidt and
Ben Suits added singles as well.
Isaac Hormann and
Patrick Bordewick also reached base via the walk.
The Wolves jumped on the Golden Bears in the bottom of the first as a leadoff walk followed by a single and a groundout put two in scoring position with one out. Another groundout, this time off the bat of Sam McMacken, brought in the game's first run to make it 1-0 in favor of Northern State.
NSU added to their lead with some more small ball in the third inning as a leadoff single followed by a sacrifice bunt and another groundout put a runner on third for Hayden Houts. Houts lined a single through the left side to double the advantage for the Wolves.
CSP sent the minimum to the plate through the first three frames until a two-out walk to
Patrick Bordewick extended the fourth. Christopher followed with the team's first hit of the day as he doubled off the glove of the right field to put runners on second and third as the Golden Bears looked to even the score, but a groundout to third brought the inning to a close.
The Golden Bears added singles in both the fifth and sixth, but were unable to put any runs on the board as Northern State cruised to the shutout victory.
GAME TWO: Northern State 1, Concordia-St. Paul 0
While
Zach Lauzon delivered one of the best pitching performances of the season for the Golden Bears in the second game of the day, it was the Wolves that came out on top with one swing of the bat.
Lauzon (1-2) silenced the Northern State bats throughout the game as he allowed just one hit and walked two over 7.2 innings of work. The right-hander grabbed five strikeouts as well, but was tagged with the loss as the one hit allowed was a solo homer off the bat of Chad Hinkle in the fifth which ended up being the lone run of the game.
Cody Curfman (2-2) put up a dominant outing for the Wolves to match Lauzon's gem as he pitched 7.0 shutout innings with eight strikeouts. Curfman limited CSP to five hits and a walk in the win. The bullpen added 2.0 scoreless frames as Tyler Jones picked up the save.
Lauzon and Curfman matched zeroes over the first four and a half innings as neither lineup was able to break the deadlock. Lauzon was especially dominant as he did not allow a hit for the first four frames while Concordia picked up doubles in three of the first five innings, including one to lead off the game, but were unable to bring any home as it remained scoreless into the bottom of the fifth.
With one out in the NSU half of the fifth, Hinkle deposited a Lauzon offering off the Northern State bus beyond the right field wall.
After another scoreless inning in the sixth, CSP once again threatened to score in the seventh as Christopher and Suits both singled to put runners on the corners with two outs. A stolen base for Suits put the go-ahead run on second, but a groundout put an end to the threat. The Golden Bears put a runner in scoring position again in the eighth but were unable to capitalize as back-to-back fly outs ended the inning.
Still down 1-0 heading to the ninth, Concordia put up their best threat of the day as a Bordewick single and an error on a grounder off the bat of Christopher put two on with no outs. A sacrifice bunt followed by an intentional walk of Suits loaded the bases as the Golden Bears had two chances to tie or take the lead. Jones slammed the door for the Wolves, however, as he tallied a strikeout and a fielder's choice to finish off the shutout of the day.
The two teams will wrap up the series tomorrow with a single nine-inning game set to begin at 11 a.m. at Hopkins High School.
