MARSHALL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (7-10, 3-9 NSIC) dropped a heartbreaker on Saturday afternoon as they fell to Southwest Minnesota State (7-7, 5-6 NSIC) 4-3 in the final game of the series.
 
After battling back to take the lead in the eighth inning, the Golden Bears saw the Mustangs score two runs in the ninth to turn a 3-2 deficit into a 4-3 win to claim a 2-1 series win.
 
The Golden Bear pitching staff gave the team a chance to win as they limited SMSU to three earned runs on eight hits while walking just two and striking out six in the game. Michael Voss was solid in 5.0 innings in a no-decision as he allowed a pair of runs on four hits while striking out four. Eric Lundell continued to be a force out of the bullpen as he allowed just one hit in 3.0 innings while striking out a pair. The sophomore now has a 0.00 ERA and 0.27 WHIP through his first 11.0 innings on the year. TJ Johnson (1-2) took a tough loss as he allowed two runs (one earned) in 0.1 innings of work.
 
At the plate, Concordia spread their eight hits over seven hitters as Matt Pietsch was the lone CSP hitter to register a multi-hit game, going 2-5 with a run scored in the contest. Jack Young reached safely three times as he finished 1-2 with a walk, a hit by pitch and a run scored while Patrick Bordewick added an RBI single.
 
After putting men on in each of the first two innings, the Golden Bears broke through with a two-out rally in the third to open the scoring. Pietsch got things going with a single to right center before scampering into scoring position at second after an error on the center fielder. Bordewick took advantage of that miscue as he sent an 0-2 pitch down the left field line for a single to score Pietsch.
 
Voss made that 1-0 lead stick until the bottom of the fifth as he blanked the Mustangs over the first four frames. It was once again two-out hitting that made the difference as Robbie Smith scored Chase McDaniel all the way from first base on a blooper single to center before Brodie Smith followed with a run-scoring single of his own to give the Mustangs a 2-1 lead after five.
 
Concordia scrapped and clawed their way back even and into the lead a few innings later as they turned to small ball to make it happen.
 
In the top of the seventh, Jack Young led off with a walk before moving up to second on a Jaden Werner sacrifice bunt. Justin McGuigan was hit by a pitch to put two on with one out before Nick Thimsen hustled down the line to beat out a potential inning-ending double play. His effort getting down the line forced an errant throw from the second baseman and allowed Young to score from second on the play as CSP evened it up at 2-2.
 
CSP found another way to manufacture a run in the eighth as Ryan Bastyr delivered a one out single before Jarod Wandersee hit into a fielder's choice. Wandersee then moved up to second on a balk before Young was hit by a pitch and Werner drew a walk to load the bases with two outs. The Golden Bears were able to push the go-ahead run across one batter later as McGuigan was hit by a pitch for the second inning in a row to allow Wandersee to score.
 
Lundell put up a zero in the bottom of the inning, but the lead would not hold as SMSU regained the lead in dramatic fashion in the ninth. After a leadoff single, the Mustangs attempted to lay down a sacrifice bunt, but a misplay allowed Derek Smith to score from first base. CSP registered the first out of the inning with a groundout back to the pitcher, but a single to center brought in McDaniel to give Southwest Minnesota State the win.
 
The Golden Bears remain on the road next week as they travel to Minot State for a doubleheader on Wednesday and Minnesota Crookston for two games on Saturday and one on Sunday.