SIOUX CITY, Iowa – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (14-9, 8-3 NSIC) completed a three-game weekend sweep of Southwest Minnesota State (8-13, 1-8 NSIC) with a 14-4 win in seven innings on Sunday afternoon at Bishop Mueller Field on the campus of Briar Cliff University.
Concordia made it 19 wins in the last 26 meetings with the Mustangs as they improved to 40-26 with three victories on the weekend.
Trailing 3-1 after three innings, the Golden Bears bats came to life with four runs in the fourth, two in the fifth and a whopping seven in the sixth to seal the run-rule win and the sweep of the series.
The offense finished with 14 runs on 15 hits as 10 different players, including all nine starters, collected at least one hit in the contest.
Bryce Nelson collected his second three-hit game of the series as he finished at 3-5 for the game and 7-11 (.636) on the weekend to move his season slash line to .283/.371/.528. The sophomore drove in three and scored twice in the contest.
Jack Young matched Nelson with three runs batted in on the day as Young went 2-5 with a double and three driven in.
Jarod Wandersee chipped in a 2-2 effort with a walk, two runs scored and an RBI. Wandersee leads the team with a .371 average while Young's .343 mark ranks second.
Matt Pietsch delivered his second home run of the season as he also drew a walk and scored twice while
Justin McGuigan went 2-5 with a pair of runs scored in the win.
Korey Dahlberg (4-0) remained unbeaten in his freshman campaign as he allowed three runs on eight hits in 5.1 innings of work in the win. He walked none and struck out four.
Mason Nadolney took it from there as he allowed just one run on one hit in 1.2 innings of relief.
Ansen Dulas (1-1) took the loss for Southwest Minnesota State as the Mustang starter worked 4.0 innings, allowing six runs (two earned) while striking out six.
Just three batters into the game, Pietsch put the Golden Bears on the board with a solo shot over the left field wall. The Mustangs responded in the second, however, as they put three on the board to take a 3-1 lead.
That lead held until the fourth when Nelson, Young and
Brayden Roybal all delivered run-scoring singles to put CSP in front 5-3.
Jaden Werner added an RBI single of his own in the fifth to push it to 7-3.
The Golden Bears broke it open in the sixth as they collected four hits, four walks and a hit by pitch in the frame to score seven times. Nelson delivered the big hit with a two-run single before Young rounded out the scoring with a double to bring it to 14-3.
SMSU did manage to get a run back in the last half of the seventh, but that would be all they could muster as CSP secured the victory via the run-rule.
Concordia will look to carry the momentum of their four-game winning streak on the road this week as they travel to UMary for a doubleheader on Tuesday before heading to St. Cloud State for a three-game weekend series.
