MINNETONKA, Minn. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (10-7, 4-1 NSIC) extended their winning streak to six in a row with a 4-1 game one win over Northern State (6-9, 1-1 NSIC) before the Wolves took game two 4-2 to make it a doubleheader split at Veterans Field on Thursday afternoon.
 
Concordia will continue their run of neutral site contests this weekend as they head to the campus of Briar Cliff University in Sioux City, Iowa to take on Minnesota Crookston. The series has been shifted to Sunday and Monday with first pitch at noon on both days.
 
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 4, Northern State 1
In game that featured just nine combined hits and no extra-base hits, it was the Golden Bears that won the small ball battle, erasing an early 1-0 deficit with two in the bottom half of the first, one in the second and another in the fourth to secure their sixth consecutive win.
 
Concordia managed just five hits in the contest, including two from Mason Wolf, as they were forced to be efficient with their opportunities. Wolf finished 2-3 with a run scored as he also tacked on the team's lone stolen base in the win.
 
Jarod Wandersee added a single, a run scored and an RBI while Jaden Werner also drove in a run with a single of his own. Jack Young chipped in a single in the fifth as well.
 
The Golden Bears called on both youth and experience to silence the Northern State bats in the first game of the day. Freshman Reece Piontek (2-0) picked up right where he left off last week as he allowed just an unearned run on two hits while walking two and striking out one in 5.0 innings in his second consecutive win.
 
Senior Michael Voss kept the Wolves at bay over 2.0 innings of relief, keeping NSU off the board while scattering two hits and a walk to go along with a strikeout to pick up his first career save.
 
Seth Brewer (0-3) was tagged with the loss as he allowed four runs on five hits while walking three and striking out two in 5.0 innings.
 
Reece Ragatz gave the Wolves a 1-0 lead with an RBI single just three batters into the game, but that lead would be short-lived with two in the bottom of the first. Brayden Roybal crossed the plate on a wild pitch after three straight walks before Wandersee drove in Nick Thimsen to give CSP the lead.
 
It was Werner's run-scoring single in the second that doubled the lead at 3-1 before Mason Nadolney brought home Wandersee from third on a groundout to short.
 
GAME TWO: Northern State 4, Concordia-St. Paul 2
It was the Wolves that struck first again in game two, this time with a three spot in the top of the first, and that proved to be enough for NSU ace Max Otto as he held the Golden Bears off the scoreboard over the game's final seven innings after allowing a pair in the second.
 
Otto (4-1) now has four of his team's six wins on the season as the right-handed starter spun a complete game victory, limiting CSP to a pair of runs (one earned) over 9.0 innings. Otto struck out ten and walked two while allowing just six hits.
 
CSP's Christian Morel (1-2) got the start on the other side and took the loss after working the first 3.0 frames. The bullpen kept the game close as the quartet of Joey Atkinson, Gavin Lund, Matt Sherman and Logan Shaffer combined to allow just one run on four hits over the final 6.0 frames. Sherman was especially impressive as he needed just 31 pitches to complete 3.0 shutout innings, giving up just one hit and striking out one.
 
At the plate, Jaden Werner and Jack Young each reached safely twice as Werner went 1-3 with a walk and a run scored while Young picked up a single and a hit by pitch. Mason Nadolney and Justin McGuigan each chipped in run-scoring singles in the second while Nick Thimsen registered the team's lone extra-base hit of the day with a double.
 
The Wolves took advantage of a Golden Bear miscue to open the scoring in the first before a bases loaded walk for Brandon Kusler pushed it to 2-0 six batters into the game. Mateo Tahsini singled home one more run a batter later to push it to 3-0 before CSP came to bat for the first time.
 
The deficit was trimmed to one after back-to-back RBI singles off the bats of Nadolney and McGuigan in the second, but that would be all the more they could muster. Alex Gauer provided an insurance run for the Wolves in the fifth before the Golden Bears gave themselves a shot in the ninth. Walks to Jarod Wandersee and Jaden Werner in the last half of the ninth brought the winning run to the plate, but Otto slammed the door with two straight strikeouts to close out the win and the split on the day.