ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team opens the season at Purdue Northwest this weekend as the two teams are set for a four-game series with doubleheaders on Saturday and Sunday. First pitch is scheduled for noon on Saturday and 11 a.m. on Sunday.
 
SERIES INFORMATION
The season-opening series for the Golden Bears, originally scheduled for last weekend, will be played at Dowling Park on the campus of Purdue Northwest. The weekend series marks the first ever meetings between the two schools.
 
PNW is a Division II institution located in Hammond, Indiana and they are member of the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Conference (GLIAC). Last season, the Pride finished with a 4-5 record a year after putting up 16-12 record in league play in 2019.
 
Live stats will be available for all four games on the weekend.
 
WATCH ONLINE - NSIC NETWORK
Powered by the NSIC Network, all Northern Sun home and away baseball games will be broadcast online, free of charge, weather permitting. Visit www.nsicnetwork.com/cspbears to watch the Golden Bears. Away games will feature production by the host institution, while home games are broadcast using BlueFrame Technology with the play-by-play call of Dan Flanagan, voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. Flanagan is a St. Paul native who professionally trained in broadcasting at Fordham University in New York where he was the voice of the basketball and football teams, among other sports. NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ
 
WATCH ON YOUR TV
The NSIC Network, supported by BlueFrame Technology, is available to download on your favorite OTT providers like Roku, Apple TV, Amazon Fire TV and Android TV. Simply search for "NSIC" or "NSIC Network" and download the app for a full listing of Northern Sun action on your TV.  NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ
 
WATCH ON THE GO
Download the NSIC Network app in the Google Play Store or the App Store on your Apple device to watch on your smartphone, a new feature from BlueFrame Technology.  NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ
 
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Not able to watch or keep an eye on live stats? Check in on social media by following our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds. Each platform will have different levels of engagement. Twitter will offer scoring updates, Instagram will feature live look-ins and engaging content and Facebook is a great place to get links to previews, recaps and more. Simply search for CSP Bears on any of the platforms and remember to #BeGolden!
 
2020 IN REVIEW
During the pandemic-shortened 2020 season, CSP was rounding into form right before the shutdown as they rattled off seven wins in their final nine games, including their final three in a row, to finish the season at 7-6 overall. While things were looking up heading into conference play, CSP and the rest of the conference received news just one day before the scheduled start of the NSIC season that rest of the season was canceled due to the then-emerging COVID-19 pandemic.
 
On the year, the Golden Bears, featuring a young squad with several new starters, amassed an impressive .334/.393/.434 slash line at the plate over 15 games as seven of the team's eight regular starters hit above .300, along with the team's top three players off the bench.
 
PRACTICE UPDATE
Talking about takeaways from last year, head coach Neil Lerner said it's given the team a new appreciation for the opportunity to get back on the field. Lerner said, "The big thing I'd say the guys learned is to really just enjoy being around each other and enjoy being able to play this great game because they've experienced having it taken away from them. I've really noticed that in practices the guys are working hard, they're enjoying each moment and they're making the best of the situation. We're excited to see all the hard work they've put in over the last year start to pay off."
 
While things look a little different with the addition of COVID-19 protocols, CSP has been able to get back to a bit of normalcy since the turn of the year on the practice field. "It's been a little different as we've tried to keep our guys in pods or in small groups and it's been challenging to build a culture without having everyone together, but the guys are excited to be back out there and have been working hard to be ready for the start of the season," said Lerner. While there have been some challenges, Lerner applauded his upperclassmen in their efforts to be creative to build that team culture, saying, "We have such a great group of leaders that have worked really hard to create the culture we've had in past years and we're starting to see it."
 
With less than a week until Opening Day, one focus that Lerner has had for the team is controlling the things they can control. He said, "They can control their effort, they can control their attitude, they can control how they support one another and they can commit to our team goals."
 
NSIC AT A GLANCE
A few weeks back, the Golden Bears were picked up finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll. CSP earned 103 points in the poll, sitting 11 points behind Minnesota Crookston in seventh and 25 points ahead of Northern State in ninth.
 
Augustana was tabbed as the top pick in the poll. This marks the third consecutive season that the Vikings have been picked to win the league. Augustana amassed 195 points after receiving 13 first place votes (coaches can't vote for their own team). Minnesota State was second with 181 points and two first place votes. St. Cloud State was picked third with 160 points, while Minot State was fourth with 153 points.
 
Prior to the cancellation of the conference season last year, the Golden Bears put together an impressive stretch of five top-six finishes in the previous seven seasons while earning a spot in the conference tournament in six of seven.
 
When talking about the quality of competition in the league, Lerner said, "It's such a good conference. Top to bottom, there are teams across the board that compete and are really well coached. If you finish in the top six or eight in the conference you are a really, really good team. It's one of the best Division II conferences around." When asked about the team's goals for the year, he stated, "Our goal every year is to make the conference tournament. Even more than that, our goal is to continue to improve throughout the season so we're playing our best ball near the end of the year. We want to go out and compete, trying to win series every weekend. We know there are unknowns that can pop up with weather on top of COVID, so we need to be able to deal with those challenges."
 
MEET THE GOLDEN BEARS
The 2021 Golden Bear lineup will have a very familiar look as CSP returns every at-bat from last season, giving CSP a deep and experienced group of position players heading into the year. With everyone back, along with a few key newcomers added to the mix, competition for playing time will be fierce.
 
Starting behind the plate, junior Chandler Ibach and sophomore Justin McGuigan will likely reprise their roles splitting time at the catcher position. The duo was highly effective in a limited capacity as Ibach slashed .381/.435/.524 and McGuigan slashed .333/.417/.333, both in nine games, while throwing out an NSIC-best 11 runners to limit opposing teams to just a 45.0% success rate stealing bases. When talking about the pair, Lerner said, "Justin and Chandler both contributed offensively last year and have proven they can play defense while doing a great job leading our pitching staff."
 
A pair of veterans in senior Ted Elsner and junior Aaron Brush will also be in the mix behind the dish after Brush appeared in four games and Elsner appeared in one last year.
 
Perhaps the most experienced position group on the field for the Golden Bears is the infield. "There is a lot of experience in the infield with guys that have played quite a bit at every position, led by fifth-year senior Patrick Bordewick," said Lerner of the group.
 
Few players in program history have entered their senior season with as much experience as Patrick Bordewick, who has made 144 starts over the past four seasons as a mainstay at shortstop. Always a steady producer on both sides of the ball, Bordewick was in the midst of his best season in navy and gold last year as he hit .311 while reaching base at a .407 clip and driving in 10.
 
Bordewick will once again be flanked by senior Ryan Bastyr at first base, junior Jarod Wandersee at second base and junior Eathan Soeffker at third base as all three appeared in at least 12 of 13 games last year. Bastyr and Soeffker each put up matching .333 batting averages last year, good for fourth on the team, while Wandersee followed close behind at .306.
 
Freshman Jaden Werner, a graduate of Crivitz High School in Wisconsin, is also knocking on the door for playing time in the infield while Mitch Klass is back after appearing in nine games at first base last year. Along with Bastyr and Klass, Shea Pekarek, primarily an outfielder, could see some time at first base as well. Cody Maier, Brayden Roybal, Jack Becker and Bryce Nelson round out the depth in the infield.
 
While the infield may be the most experienced group, the outfield might be the deepest. Lerner said, "I firmly believe we have six or seven guys who are good enough to start in the outfield."
 
Among that group are Concordia's three top hitters from 2020 in junior Jack Young and seniors Ryan Christopher and Matt Pietsch along with a key contributor in junior Shea Pekarek.
 
Young, who spent quite a bit of time in center field, ranked third in the NSIC with a .444 batting average while ranking 13^th in on-base percentage at .474 and 15^th in slugging percentage at .611. Christopher, who bounced around between center field, pitcher and designated hitter, was an extra-base hit and RBI machine, finishing fourth in the conference in doubles (six) and RBIs (15) and fifth in batting average (.417) and triples (two). Christopher will reprise his role as a two-way player as he will also see time on the mound. Matt Pietsch proved to be a formidable piece in the middle of the CSP order in his first season on campus as he slashed .364/.396/.432 while working as the primary left fielder. Junior Shea Pekarek, who spent most of his time in right field, spent much of the season in the leadoff role as he hit .262 with six of his 11 hits going for extra bases.
 
The talent doesn't stop there as Nick Thimsen, JT Hoffmann and Mason Wolf have all impressed this spring and will be in the mix for playing time in the outfield.
 
While the lineup is filled with veterans across the board, the pitching staff will feature a few new faces in 2021. "When you lose a guy like Blake Stelzer that anchors your rotation, you do your best to replace him, and we think we have guys who can do that," said Lerner. He added, "Although they haven't had a ton of innings, we feel there's a lot of ability there and a lot of guys that can step in and have success."
 
The trio of Luke DeGrammont, Michael Voss and Griffin Lapp look poised to get a shot to lock down a spot in the starting rotation early in the season as all three have found success on mound in past seasons.
 
DeGrammont, a senior, has filled multiple roles over the past three years as he has made 21 appearances, including three starts, while compiling a 3-1 record with a 4.57 ERA. Fellow senior Michael Voss has missed some time due to injury over the past few seasons, but perhaps his finest moment for the Golden Bears came back on May 1, 2018 as he worked 5.0 innings of two-run ball against the University of Minnesota. Lapp, in his second year with the squad, was a versatile player last year as he went 1-1 on the mound with nine strikeouts in 9.1 innings while picking up five hits in 10 at-bats at the plate.
 
Also in the mix to make some starts for the Golden Bears are Connor Hurley, Matt Sherman, Joey Atkinson, and Logan Shaffer.
 
Hurley, the most experienced pitcher on the staff, was a very welcome addition when he made the decision to return for a fifth year. The Sioux Falls, S.D. native has been a jack-of-all-trades over the past four years, making 32 appearances and 12 starts while collecting 96 strikeouts in 100.2 innings. Sherman, on the other hand, enters his sophomore year with two appearances under his belt, impressing with 4.2 shutout innings against Northwestern (Iowa) on Mar. 3, 2020. Atkinson joined the Golden Bears from Century College prior to last season and pitched in three games, striking out four in 5.2 innings. Freshman Shaffer will look to break into the rotation after starring at Rosemount High School.
 
The bullpen features a good collection of veterans and rookies as Ray Wellner, TJ Johnson, Ryan Fering, Eric Lundell, Wyatt Rudolf, Austin Braund and Delaney Dahl comprise the returners while Jonah Lewis, David Go, Gavin Lund, Noah Borwege and Lamine Diaby-Gassama join the mix.