ST. PAUL, Minn. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (15-12, 9-6 NSIC) dropped a heartbreaker by a score of 7-6 in game one before falling 13-1 in seven innings in game two against St. Cloud State (17-10, 9-4 NSIC) on the campus of the University of Northwestern on Sunday afternoon.
 
GAME ONE: St. Cloud State 7, Concordia-St. Paul 6
After leading 5-1 through four and a half innings and again at 6-5 heading to the last half of the seventh, the Golden Bears saw the Huskies put two runs on the board in each of the final three innings to steal a 7-6 victory in the first game of the day.
 
Concordia jumped ahead on the fourth pitch of the game as he launched a leadoff homer to put CSP in front 1-0. The Golden Bear centerfielder finished the day as one of three CSP hitters with a multi-hit game as he finished 2-4 with a walk, two runs scored and two more driven in.
 
After SCSU evened the score with a run in the second, Matt Pietsch gave Concordia the lead back with an RBI single in the third, one of his two hits in the game, as he added a walk, a pair of steals and a run scored in the game.
 
Young doubled the lead with an RBI groundout in the fourth before CSP doubled it again in the fifth as two runs scored on an SCSU error to push it to 5-1.
 
Drew Bulson cut the lead in half with a two-run home run in the home half of the fifth before Paul Steffensen tied it up with a two-run single in the bottom of the sixth.
 
That lead did not last long, however, as Jaden Werner delivered a one-out triple, his second extra-base hit of the game after doubling in the second, set the stage for pinch hitter Kal Brohmer. Brohmer, who doubled home the go-ahead run in a pinch-hit spot on Tuesday against UMary, made it two straight clutch pinch-hit efforts as he singled home Werner to give CSP a 6-5 lead.
 
With two outs and a runner on first in the bottom of the seventh, SCSU kept the game alive with a single to put two on with two out. Down to their final strike, John Nett tied the game with a double before a balk allowed Max Gamm to score the winning run.
 
Luke DeGrammont delivered another solid outing on the mound as he scattered seven hits and a pair of walks over 5.0 innings, allowing just three runs (two earned) in a no-decision. Matt Sherman (1-1) took the loss in relief as he struck out one and walked one over the final 1.2 innings.
 
GAME TWO: St. Cloud State 13, Concordia-St. Paul 1 (7 inn.)
The Huskies carried the momentum into the second game of the day as they took the lead with a solo homer in the first before putting it out of reach with a big nine-run second. CSP picked up their lone run in the fifth before St. Cloud State tacked on three more in the sixth to bring it to the final score of 13-1.
 
Jarod Wandersee provided a bright spot at the plate as he collected two of the team's three hits, including a double, in the loss. Nick Thimsen added a double of his own as he scored on a Justin McGuigan RBI groundout.
 
Jonah Lewis (1-3) took the loss after working the first 1.1 innings of the contest. Ryan Fering was excellent in relief as he worked 3.0 hitless innings, walking two and striking out three to extend his scoreless inning streak to 6.2 to start the season.
 
SCSU's Ethan Lanthier (3-0), who recorded the final two outs in game one to pick up the win, delivered 5.0 innings of one-run ball to secure his second victory of the day. He allowed three hits and no walks while striking out a pair. Owen Anderson followed with 2.0 perfect innings, striking out three.
 
CSP is set to take on Minot State in the mid-week before traveling to Sioux Falls on Friday and Saturday.