MAUSTON, Wis. – Concordia St. Paul baseball (7-9, 3-0 NSIC) swept and claimed the opening series of NSIC play against the Bemidji State Beavers (1-17, 0-3 NSIC) in dominating fashion on Monday afternoon at the Woodside Sports Complex.
With today's wins the Golden Bears now hold a 10 game winning streak over the Beavers, breaking the previous record of nine with their 11-4 victory over the Beavers in game two. The 9-0 win in game one ties the record for the largest shutout victory in the series which was previously set back on March 28, 2018.
As a team, the Golden Bears slashed .359/.484/.455 in the two games, collecting 28 hits which included four doubles and two triples.
Bryce Nelson and
Kal Brohmer had nearly identical stat lines after both men finished with a batting average of .571 with four hits highlighted by a triple and double, two RBIs and a stolen base a piece.
Mason Wolf added an impressive batting average after going 3-6 (.500) with three runs and a walk.
Brayden Roybal led the team with four RBIs while
Koby McBroome led the team in walks with four on the day.
Concordia had two pitchers claim their first victories of the season on the mound.
Jonah Lewis (1-2) had a career game in game one after matching a career-high 7.0 innings pitched with nine strikeouts in the shutout victory.
Christian Morel (1-2) worked 6.0 innings with a season high six strikeouts in game two for the Golden Bears.
Logan Shaffer added a solid 2.0 innings from the bullpen after striking out three of the six batteries he faced.
GAME 1: CSP 9, BSU 0 (Seven Innings)
The Golden Bears struck first in the opening frame with a pair of runs highlighted by an RBI double from Roybal and an RBI triple from Brohmer to kickstart the momentum on the offensive side.
CSP doubled their lead with a run in the second that was scored due to a throwing error from the Beaver's first baseman trying to turn a double play that allowed Nelson to score from second and a run in the third after an RBI single from
Noah Juliar drove home Brohmer from second.
The final Golden Bears' five runs came in the sixth innings. Juliar, Nelson, and Wolf started the inning strong with two runs off three straight hits to extend the lead to 6-0. Wolf later scored from a fielder's choice while an RBI single from Brohmer drove in Roybal and
Nick Thimsen crossed the plate for the final time off a wild pitch to claim the 9-0 victory.
GAME 2: CSP 11, UMD 4 (Nine Innings)
Game two was more competitive than the first as the two teams traded the lead in the opening four innings of play. However, the Golden Bears scored nine unanswered runs to put away the Beavers.
After neither team could find the scoring column in the first innings, an RBI double from Juliar gave the Golden Bears their first lead of the game. Later in the inning with a full count, Nelson drove Juliar home for the second run with an RBI singlet to give the Golden Bears an early 2-0 advantage.
The Beavers picked up some momentum in the third with four runs off four hits that included two doubles, while leaving the bases stranded after Morel sat down the final batter of the inning looking. The Golden Bears responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning from McBroome after Thimsen drove him in with an RBI single up the middle.
CSP regained the lead the very next inning after a sacrifice fly from
Justin McGuigan allowed Nelson to tag from second, and a balk from BSU's pitcher brought Wolf across the plate from third to give the Golden Bears a 5-4 advantage.
The Golden Bears cruised to the 11-4 victory and series sweep with seven more runs that was highlighted by a two RBIs from Roybal in the seventh and RBI walks from McGuigan and McBroome in the fifth.
Up Next: The Golden Bears will return to action next Wednesday with a conference doubleheader against the Mary Marauders. Due to weather and field conditions, the time and location of the games are to be determined.
