ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (11-9, 5-3 NSIC) has announced a pair of schedule changes for this week as their mid-week doubleheader with Minnesota Duluth (9-9, 3-2 NSIC) has been canceled and the Golden Bears will head back to Sioux City to take on Southwest Minnesota State (8-10, 1-5 NSIC) on Saturday and Sunday.
 
SCHEDULE INFORMATION
Snowfall on Wednesday coupled with cold temperatures in the area resulted in the Hopkins High School baseball field being deemed unplayable after the doubleheader between CSP and UMD was initially moved back a day and shifted to Hopkins High School.
 
With Legion Field on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State not quite ready for competition this weekend, CSP and SMSU will head south to Bishop Mueller Field on the campus of Briar Cliff University for their three-game series. First pitch in Saturday's doubleheader is set for 12:30 p.m. while Sunday's single game will start at 12 p.m.
 
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
 
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LAST TIME OUT
On Monday afternoon, CSP finished off the weekend series with Minnesota Crookston with an 8-4 win at Bishop Mueller Field on the campus of Briar Cliff University.
 
The Golden Bears improved to 48-14 all-time against the Golden Eagles as they took the lead with three runs in the fifth before tacking on five in the seventh to secure a game three victory.
 
After a quiet day at the plate, the CSP bats came to life in the series finale as they slugged 12 hits, including four doubles, en route to hanging eight runs on the board.
 
Senior Matt Pietsch collected two of those doubles as he finished the contest 2-4 with a walk to go along with three runs driven in and a run scored. Jack Young added a three-hit effort as he went 3-4 with a walk and a pair of runs scored.
 
Concordia also received multi-hit efforts from JT Hoffmann and Jaden Werner as Hoffmann went 2-5 with an RBI and a run scored while Werner went 2-4 with a double. Bryce Nelson chipped in a double and a walk while Justin McGuigan contributed a clutch two-run single and a walk.
 
On the mound, Korey Dahlberg (3-0) remained unbeaten as he won his third consecutive start. The freshman struck out a career-best eight while limiting UMC to two runs on five hits in 5.1 innings. Matt Sherman followed with 1.2 scoreless innings, allowing a hit and striking out two. Michael Voss finished off the contest with a 1-2-3 ninth, including a game-ending strikeout.
 
UMD SERIES HISTORY
The Golden Bears and the Bulldogs have split the all-time series with each team claiming 29 wins in 58 meetings. Concordia's best stretch came from 2006-09 as they claimed 11 wins in 13 meetings during that span. Minnesota Duluth started to turn the momentum in their favor with nine wins in 11 meetings from 2015-17, but the Golden Bears rattled off nine wins in 10 since then. Concordia has picked up 12 wins in 19 neutral site meetings.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE BULLDOGS
Just two weeks ago back on Mar. 17, the Golden Bears wrapped up non-conference play on a high note as they swept Minnesota Duluth at Woodside Sports Complex. The Golden Bears followed up a 7-0 shutout win in game one with a wild 11-10 win in 10 innings in game two.
 
In game one, CSP starter Reece Piontek got all the help he needed in the opening frame as the Golden Bears hung four on the board in the first before tacking on three in the fourth to secure the shutout win.
 
Piontek claimed his first career win and first career shutout as he allowed just three hits in the complete game shutout. The freshman left-hander needed just 86 pitches to complete 7.0 scoreless frames, facing just three over the minimum, picking off three runners, while striking out a pair.
 
On the offensive side, Chandler Ibach and Jaden Werner delivered the big blows as Ibach launched his team-leading fourth homer of the season, a three-run shot in the first, while Werner made it three home runs in three games with a two-run blast in the fourth. Ibach finished the day 2-4 while Werner reached safely three times with a walk and a hit by pitch to go along with the long ball.
 
The second game of the day proved to be a rollercoaster ride as both teams saw four run leads slip away before the Golden Bears claimed the sweep with a walk-off win in the 10th.
 
Jaden Werner capped off an impressive day with his fourth hit, and first single, of the day to seal the victory in walk-off fashion. Werner finished a triple shy of the cycle in the game, going 3-5 with a homer, a double, a walk three RBIs and three runs scored while matching Ibach for the team lead with four home runs.
 
Jack Young reached base five times in the contest as he collected four hits, including a double, while driving in two and swiping his fourth bag of the year. Brayden Roybal matched him with three hits and two walks in the win.
 
Nick Thimsen chipped in a pair of extra-base hits with a double and his first home run of the year while Jarod Wandersee drew three walks and added two singles while scoring twice
 
SMSU SERIES HISTORY
Against one of CSP's most familiar opponents, the Golden Bears have compiled a 37-26 record in 63 previous meetings. Concordia has been even more dominant in recent seasons as they have won 16 of the last 23 meetings since 2016, including seven in a row to start that run. Just nine of the previous 63 meetings have come in Marshall as SMSU holds a 6-3 edge in those meetings.
 
LAST MEETING WITH THE MUSTANGS
In a three-game trip to SMSU back on April 2-3, 2021, the Mustangs took two of three from the Golden Bears in Marshall. Concordia claimed an impressive 20-6 game two win sandwiched around a 9-3 loss in game one and a 4-3 loss in game three.
 
In that game two victory, CSP put up their largest offensive output since a wild 23-15 win against Wayne State back on Mar. 5, 2019 and their largest output in play since a 23-9 win at Bemidji State all the way back on April 19, 2014.
 
The Golden Bears fell one home run short of the DII-era program record set back on April 8, 2004 at UMD as they slugged five as a team in the game while their 39 total bases ranked seventh.
 
A staggering eight CSP hitters registered multi-hit games while seven scored at least twice and five drove in two or more in the game in a balanced attack.
 
The top run producer in the game was third baseman Jarod Wandersee as the junior launched a grand slam and a two-run homer to set career bests with two home runs, six RBIs and three runs scored. Patrick Bordewick reached safely all five times up as he went 4-4 with a homer, a walk, four runs scored and a pair of RBIs, giving him three career four-hit games.
 
Ryan Christopher and Nick Thimsen joined in the long ball fun as Christopher drove in three and scored three while going 3-5 with a homer and Thimen went 2-4 with a homer, a walk and a pair of runs.
 
Jaden Werner added the first two hits of his young career as he 2-5 with three RBIs while Matt Pietsch went 2-5 with a double and three runs scored. Jack Young added a 2-4 performance with two runs and two RBIs while Justin McGuigan also chipped in a pair of hits.