ST. PAUL, Minn. - On an arid spring afternoon in Minnesota's capital city, Concordia-St. Paul baseball (14-16, 10-7 NSIC) dropped game one of a doubleheader 17-13 to Winona State (18-18, 14-7 NSIC) in Concordia's home opener at Barnes Field.

The Golden Bears currently lead in game two 16-12 after six full innings of play in a scheduled 9-inning contest with the game being suspended due to darkness at 7:27 p.m. The game will be completed prior to game three of the series, which was scheduled for Saturday, April 15 at noon but the series finale has been rescheduled to Monday, April 17 at noon at Barnes Field due to a weekend of rain, snow and cold conditions.

Noah Juliar had a hot day at the plate to match the unseasonable temperatures, going 7-for-8 with three home runs, six runs scored, eight RBIs, a double, and a walk in nine plate appearances.

GAME 1: WSU 17, CSP 13
Game one saw several momentum shifts and flurries between the two squads, including a late 5-run rally by the Golden Bears. However, a 6-run fourth inning proved to be the deciding factor as the Winona State Warriors took game one, 17-13.
 
As a team, CSP notched 18 hits that included 10 extra base hits. Noah Juliar led the Golden Bears with a perfect game from the plate after going 5-for-5 with a pair of home runs, a double, six RBIs and three runs scored. Mason Nadolney and Mitch Klass both added two-run shots in the contest. Nick Thimsen added a triple, while Kal Brohmer had a double and Mason Wolf collected a double of his own.
 
The pitching staff was busy as the Golden Bears had five pitchers appear on the mound in game one. Korey Dahlberg (3-5) started the game for CSP on the bump. The sophomore led the team with five strikeouts and one walked batter in 3.1 innings pitched. Carter Shook made his pitching debut, while Jack Nicklaus and Evan Eberle appeared in their first game at Barnes Field.
 
After Juliar drove in Brohmer for the first run of the game, Nadolney added his fourth homer of the season with a two-run run shot to deep center field to put the Golden Bears up early, 3-0.
 
The Warriors scored four unanswered runs in the second and third innings to take their first lead of the game. However, in the bottom of the third, CSP answered back with a solo shot from Juliar that tied the game back up. The sophomore outfielder continued to add to his career game after adding another homer in the fifth, along with an RBI single in the sixth and an RBI double in the seventh.
 
A strong 6-run fourth inning from WSU would ultimately be the decider in game one. The Warriors added a pair of runs in the fifth and sixth, while adding three more insurance runs in the final frame.
 
The Golden Bears rallied off five runs in the seventh that included a pinch hit two-run shot from Mitch Klass, which was the first of his career. CSP also had four other pinch hits from Koby McBroome, Chris Jacobs, Lamine Diaby-Gassama and Michael Sturek, but was not enough as the Warriors held on for the 17-13 victory.

GAME 2 NOTES: CSP LEADS 16-12, TOP-7
In game two, Nick Thimsen (3-5) and Jaden Werner (3-4) each have 3-hit games going while three others, Bryce Nelson (2-4), Noah Juliar (2-3), and Brayden Roybal (2-3) each have a pair of hits as eight of CSP's starting nine have collected at least one hit, with the other (Mason Nadolney) drawing a pair of walks including a run and an RBI. Juliar and Roybal have each left the yard.

Jonah Lewis started and worked the first five frames while Eric Lundell worked out of trouble to end the Warriors' six run sixth inning rally, retiring the only batter he faced on five pitches before the game was suspended.