ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (15-23, 11-21 NSIC) closed out the season with another high scoring contest with Sioux Falls (21-19, 16-19 NSIC) as the Golden Bears fell 13-8 on Saturday afternoon at Barnes Field.
 
It proved to be a game of runs at the hitter-friendly ballpark as USF scored the game's first three runs before Concordia responded with eight in a row. It was the Cougars that struck last, however, as they scored the last 10 runs of the game to claim the win.
 
Nick Thimsen capped off a tremendous first season as a Golden Bear regular as the right fielder launched a pair of home runs as a part of a 3-5 performance with four RBIs and two runs scored. The big game brought his season slash line to .348/.403/.652 with a team-best eight home runs.
 
Chandler Ibach continued his late season surge as he homered for the fourth time in three games while collecting his third straight multi-hit game. The catcher finished 2-4 with an RBI and a run scored.
 
Ryan Bastyr concluded his Golden Bear career with a three-hit effort as Bastyr and Matt Pietsch each went 3-5. Fellow senior Patrick Bordewick picked up his 34^th career double as he set the program record for most games started in his final game in navy and gold.
 
Michael Voss picked up a no-decision in the start as he worked 5.0 innings, allowing four earned runs while striking out a pair. Eric Lundell (4-2) was tagged with the loss as he worked 0.2 innings in the eighth before giving way to Wyatt Rudolf. Rudolf worked 1.1 scoreless innings, allowing one hit and striking out one.
 
The Cougars jumped on the Golden Bears early with three hits in the first and three more in the second to build a 3-0 advantage. Grant Lung put USF in front with a run-scoring single before Trey Hubers added one of his own later in the first. Lung tacked on his second RBI of the game in the second as his sacrifice fly gave Sioux Falls a three-run lead heading to the home half of the second.
 
The Golden Bears quickly shifted the momentum in their favor in their half of the second inning as Pietsch came around to score on a Bastyr double before Cody Maier was hit by a pitch to set the stage for Thimsen. With two out and two on, the CSP right fielder unloaded on the first pitch he saw and sailed it into the spectators area at nearby Carlander Field for a three-run home run.
 
CSP added on in the third as they loaded the bases with three straight hits from Bordewick, Pietsch and Bastyr. The Golden Bears capitalized on a USF wild pitch as Bordewick raced home before Pietsch followed him to the plate after an errant throw skipped past the pitcher at the plate.
 
Ibach and Thimsen were at it again in the fourth as Ibach lofted a solo homer to left before Thimsen landed his second of the game in nearly the exact same spot for back-to-back home runs to extend the lead to 8-3 heading to the fifth.
 
It was the Cougars' turn to put up some crooked numbers as they scored a pair in the fifth and three more in the sixth to tie the game at 8-8. It was once again Lung that delivered the big blow as he launched a three-run shot into the parking lot in right field to even the score.
 
After the game's first scoreless frame in the seventh, Sioux Falls went back to work in the eighth as they scored five runs to gain the decisive edge. Noah Buss gave USF the lead with an RBI single before Ryan Meyer came through two a clutch two-out, two-run double and Zane Butts followed with a two-run single to push it to 13-8.
 
That proved to be all the scoring in the contest as the Cougars held the Golden Bears off the scoreboard in the final three innings to secure the series win.