WAYNE, Neb. – The Concordia Golden Bears baseball team (17-23, 11-17 NSIC) claimed a massive doubleheader sweep at Wayne State (17-23, 11-15 NSIC) as they came from behind to win game one 4-3 before erasing a three-run deficit in the ninth to win game two 8-7 on Sunday afternoon.
 
Concordia continued their recent run of dominance in the all-time series with the Wildcats as they made it 10 wins in 11 meetings since 2015 to improve to 17-34 all-time against WSC and 12-20 in Wayne.
 
The two wins moved CSP to within two games of Minnesota Duluth in eighth place in the NSIC standings with five games to play heading into the final week of the regular season. The Golden Bears close out the regular season at home this week as they host Upper Iowa on Tuesday for a doubleheader before taking on Winona State for a three-game series on Friday and Saturday.
 
GAME ONE: Concordia-St. Paul 4, Wayne State 3
Trailing 2-0 after two innings, the Golden Bears jumped on the Wildcats with four runs in the third to take the lead. That proved to be enough for CSP starter Luke DeGrammont as the left-hander held WSC to just one run over the final five frames to put Concordia back in the win column.
 
DeGrammont (4-3) allowed just six hits and three runs while walking none and striking out 10 in the seven-inning complete game victory. The senior delivered his third complete game win of the season while reaching double digits in strikeouts for the second time, finishing one shy of his career-best of 11 set back on Mar. 19.
 
At the plate, Nick Thimsen and Kal Brohmer each delivered multi-hit efforts as Thimsen went 3-4 with a pair of runs driven in while Brohmer finished 2-4 with a run scored. It was Thimsen's ninth multi-hit performance of the year while Brohmer picked up his third in the past six games.
 
In total, seven different Golden Bear hitters collected hits while eight of the nine reached safely at least once. Jaden Werner chipped in an RBI double and a run scored while Wandersee picked up a single, an RBI and a run of his own. Matt Pietsch and Bryce Nelson each went 1-3 and a walk in the contest.
 
WSC starter Andrew Staebell (4-2) picked up a complete game of his own as he allowed four runs on 10 hits with three walks and seven strikeouts over 7.0 innings in the loss.
 
Nick Barnett put the Wildcats ahead in the bottom half of the second with a two-run opposite field home run, but the lead wouldn't last long as Concordia answered a half inning later.
 
Wandersee got the Golden Bears on the board with a run-scoring single to bring home Jack Young before Jaden Werner tied the score with a double down the right field line. Thimsen continued the offensive outburst with a two-run single to give CSP a 4-2 edge through two and a half innings.
 
The score remained there until an Alex Logelin RBI double in the bottom of the fifth cut that lead in half. With two outs and the tying run on third and the go-ahead run on second, Jack Young tracked down a deep fly ball in the gap in left center to maintain the advantage.
 
DeGrammont took care of business from there with two scoreless innings to finish off the win.
 
GAME TWO: Concordia-St. Paul 8, Wayne State 7
Down to their final three outs with a 7-4 deficit, the Golden Bears grabbed a massive come from behind win with four runs in the ninth to secure a doubleheader sweep in Wayne.
 
Jack Young got the rally started with a leadoff single before Brayden Roybal and Kal Brohmer were hit with back-to-back pitches to load the bases with nobody out. Wandersee trimmed it to two with a sacrifice fly before Matt Pietsch closed the gap to one with a two out single up the middle. It was Nick Thimsen that delivered the go-ahead hit for the second game in a row as he drove a two-run double over the head of the left fielder to put CSP in front.
 
Concordia had a bit of a scare as the leadoff man reached on a single before moving up to third with one out in the home half of the eighth, but Alec Holcomb slammed the door with two consecutive strikeouts to collect his team-leading fifth save of the year.
 
Three of the team's 12 hits in the game came in the ninth as all nine starters reached base with each of the top eight collecting at least one hit. Jarod Wandersee and Chandler Ibach each delivered a pair of doubles as Wandersee drove in a team-best three runs while Ibach scored a run. Matt Pietsch finished with a team-high three hits, going 3-5 with a run batted in and a run scored.
 
Thimsen made it two straight multi-RBI games as he finished with the go-ahead double, two driven in and a walk in game two while Brayden Roybal reached four times with a single, a pair of walks and a hit by pitch to go along with a run scored. Kal Brohmer launched his first career home run in the game while also scoring twice.
 
Jonah Lewis picked up a no decision, working 4.1 innings and striking out four in the start. Matt Sherman followed with 1.2 innings of relief before Michael Voss came on to work the seventh. Wyatt Rudolf (2-1) picked up the relief win as he allowed one run in his 1.0 inning of work before Holcomb came on to lock down the save.
 
The Wildcats jumped ahead early with a run in the bottom of the first before Kal Brohmer tied it up with his homer in the top half of the fourth. WSC regained the lead with another run in the fourth, but it proved to be short-lived as a Bryce Nelson RBI groundout followed by a Wandersee two-run double gave Concordia a 4-2 edge.
 
Wayne State chipped away from there with a run in their half of the inning, another in the sixth, two more in the seventh and one more in the eighth to build a 7-4 edge heading into the ninth to set the stage for the CSP comeback.