BRANDON, S.D. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (15-18, 9-12 NSIC) dropped the final two games of the weekend series to Sioux Falls (20-18, 12-11 NSIC) as the Cougars took game one 1-0 and game two 7-2 at First National Bank Field on Saturday afternoon.
GAME ONE: Sioux Falls 1, Concordia-St. Paul 0
On a cold and windy afternoon, the pitchers controlled the game in the opener as
Korey Dahlberg and Logan Parker-Sjoberg matched zeroes throughout. A lone run in the home half of the fifth proved to be the difference as three straight reached with two outs, capped by a Connor King RBI single, to bring in the game's only tally.
Dahlberg (4-2) limited the Cougars to just one run on four hits in the complete game loss. The right-hander walked three and struck out a pair in his 6.0 innings of work.
Parker-Sjoberg (1-0) spun 5.0 shutout frames, allowing just three hits and striking out four in the win. Zachary Shastay struck out one of the two batters he faced before Alex Krout came on to retire all five batters he faced, including three via the strikeout, to collect his seventh save of the year.
Concordia's best opportunities came in the second and the fourth as CSP put runners in scoring position in each frame.
Matt Pietsch delivered a one-out single in the top half of the second before moving up to second on a groundout, but another groundout brought the inning to an end.
In the fourth,
Kal Brohmer drew a one-out walk before
Jarod Wandersee singled to put two on with one out. A pop up and a strikeout kept CSP off the board.
Jack Young added a two-out single in the fifth for the team's third and final hit of the contest.
GAME TWO: Sioux Falls 7, Concordia-St. Paul 2
The zeroes continued to come early in game two as the two teams were held off the board until a Golden Bear run in the fourth, but that lead would not last as the Cougars answered with runs in each of the next four innings to gain a comfortable lead. CSP trimmed a run from the deficit in the ninth and loaded the bases with a chance to pull even closer, but USF held on to claim the win.
Kal Brohmer and
Jack Young each delivered a pair of hits for CSP as Brohmer collected a pair of singles, a walk and a hit by pitch while Young went 2-4 with a run scored in the loss.
Justin McGuigan collected the team's lone extra-base hit and RBI with a run-scoring double in the fourth while
Brayden Roybal chipped in a hit and a pair of walks.
Jack Greenlun added a pinch-hit single as well while
Jarod Wandersee drew a bases loaded walk in the seventh to pick up an RBI of his own.
Jonah Lewis (1-4) was solid in the start as he worked 5.0 innings, allowing three runs on five hits while walking one and striking out three in the loss.
Ryan Fering delivered his fifth scoreless outing out of six appearances this season as he blanked USF over 1.1 innings of relief, retiring all four batters he faced.
Andrew Maslowski (4-3) picked up the victory for the Cougars as he worked the first 6.1 innings of one-run ball, limiting CSP to four hits while striking out five. Derek Lundgren retired the final two hitters of the seventh before Alex Bertram worked the next 1.2 frames. Alex Krout recorded the final out via the strikeout to strand the bases loaded and secure his second save of the day and eighth of the year.
The Golden Bears remain on the road this week as they travel to Minnesota State on Wednesday for a doubleheader in NSIC play.
