WICHITA, Kan. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (1-1) opened the season with a split at Newman on Sunday afternoon. The Golden Bears rolled to a 20-1 win in seven innings in game one before seeing their comeback bid fall short in a 4-2 loss in game two.
The two teams will wrap up the four-game series tomorrow with another doubleheader set to begin at noon.
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 20, Newman 1 (7 inn.)
After spending the last month practicing indoors, the Golden Bear bats came out swinging in their first outdoor action of the year as they hammered out 15 hits, including five for extra bases, while drawing 12 walks to hang a 20 spot on the scoreboard. CSP's 20-run outburst matched their largest total in a game since a wild 23-15 victory over Wayne State in Tucson Ariz. back on Mar. 5, 2019.
The top five hitters in the Concordia batting order were nearly impossible to get out as they combined to go 12-18 (.667) with three homers, two doubles, four walks, 15 runs scored and 12 driven in.
Jared Wandersee and
Chandler Ibach each reached base safely five times as Wandersee went 3-4 with a home run, two walks, four runs and four RBIs while Ibach finished a triple shy of the cycle, going 4-5 with a walk, four runs driven in and three runs scored.
Bryce Nelson added a homer of his own, the first of his career, as he scored twice and drove in a pair.
Matt Pietsch chipped in two hits in three at-bats to go along with a walk, four runs scored, and two RBIs while Thimsen went 2-4 with a double and two runs scored.
Jack Young reached base three times, going 1-2 with a pair of walks, three RBIs and two runs while
Mason Nadolney and
Mason Wolf had two walks apiece.
Concordia wasted no time opening the scoring as they put four runs on the board in the first, three in the second and a staggering 11 in the third to put the game out of reach. Wandersee and Ibach added solo shots in the later innings to seal the 20-1 victory.
The Golden Bear pitching staff contributed a solid performance of their own as
Luke DeGrammont and
Gavin Lund combined to allow just one run over seven innings in the contest.
DeGrammont (1-0) got the Opening Day start and win, working 4.0 innings of one-run ball, scattering seven hits while striking out two. Lund collected his first career save in his CSP debut, hurling 3.0 shutout frames while allowing just one hit.
GAME TWO: Newman 4, Concordia-St. Paul 2
After falling behind 3-0 in the early innings of the second contest of the day, Concordia battled back with a run in the fifth and another in the seventh while bringing the go-ahead run to the plate, but they were unable to complete the rally as the Jets held on to salvage the split.
Concordia's pitching duo of
Jonah Lewis and
Eric Lundell allowed just two earned runs on three hits for the game as they kept their time in it.
Lewis (0-1) made his first start in navy and gold and tallied four strikeouts while allowing just three runs (two earned) on three hits in his 4.0 innings of action.
Eric Lundell followed with 2.0 hitless innings as the sophomore allowed just an unearned run.
At the plate,
Justin McGuigan scored both of the team's runs as he went 1-2 with a walk to go along with his pair of runs scored. He got the Golden Bears on the board with a little league home run in the fifth as he singled to center and came all the way around to score on an error. He also crossed the plate in the seventh after drawing a leadoff walk and eventually scoring on a
Matt Pietsch fielder's choice.
After Pietsch reached first on the fielder's choice, Ibach lined a single to center, his second hit of the contest and sixth of the day as he finished game two 2-4, to put the tying run to the plate and bring the go-ahead run to the plate. A solid play up the middle by the NU shortstop resulted in a game-ending fielder's choice as Newman held on for the win.
Jarod Wandersee also reached safely twice as he singled and walked in the contest while Young added a triple and Pietsch added a double.
Jets starter Nate Denniston (3-0) did not allow an earned run in his 6.0 innings of work as he scattered five hits and two walks while striking out six. Connor Langrell worked out of the seventh inning jam to nail down his first save of the season.
