ST. PAUL, Minn. – Concordia-St. Paul baseball (16-24, 12-14 NSIC) will conclude the regular season this week against the Sioux Falls Cougars (13-32, 12-19 NSIC) tomorrow at Bob Barnes field before hitting the road to take on the Minnesota State Mavericks (30-13, 20-8 NSIC) at Bowyer Field in Mankato.
 
Tuesday's doubleheader with the Cougars is set to begin at 1:30 p.m. with game two following shortly after. Concordia baseball will honor this year's seniors with Senior Day festivities following the conclusion of game two.
 
The Golden Bears will conclude the regular season on the road at Minnesota State this weekend. Friday's doubleheader is scheduled to begin at noon with game two following after. They will conclude the series with a single game on Saturday slated for a noon start time.  
 
WATCH ONLINE - NSIC NETWORK
Powered by the NSIC Network, all Northern Sun home and away baseball games will be broadcast online, free of charge, weather permitting. Visit www.nsicnetwork.com/cspbears to watch the Golden Bears. Away games will feature production by the host institution, while home games are broadcast using BlueFrame Technology with the play-by-play call of Dan Flanagan, voice of the Golden Bears for over a decade. Flanagan is a St. Paul native who professionally trained in broadcasting at Fordham University in New York where he was the voice of the basketball and football teams, among other sports. NSIC Network Announcement & FAQ
 
DOWNLOAD THE APP
Fans can download the CSP Bears fan app, free of charge and available in the App Store or on Google Play. The app contains rosters, schedules, scores, stats, news, social media and more! Customize your options to get notifications to your favorite teams, as well. Search "CSP Bears" in the app store to stay up-to-date on Golden Bear athletics.
 
FOLLOW ON SOCIAL MEDIA
Not able to watch or keep an eye on live stats? Check in on social media by following our Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram feeds. Each platform will have different levels of engagement. Twitter will offer scoring updates, Instagram will feature live look-ins and engaging content and Facebook is a great place to get links to previews, recaps and more. Simply search for CSP Bears on any of the platforms and remember to #BeGolden
 
SEASON LEADERS
Kal Brohmer has been efficient at the plate this season, slashing .369/.469/.462 and has 14 multi-hit games. The sophomore first baseman has collected 48 hits that includes eight doubles and a pair of triples. He has added 26 runs, 24 RBIs and 26 walks in 39 starts.
 
Jaden Werner has the second best batting average on the team of .331. The junior shortstop has started in all 40 games for the Golden Bears this season, and has recorded 43 hits, that includes 12 doubles and a pair of home runs. He has also scored 23 times and driven in 24 runners.
 
Noah Juliar has shown his power and consistency from the plate with a team-leading six home runs and a batting average of .324 in 139 plate appearances. The sophomore outfielder has driven in 39 runners and crossed the plate 21 times, while reaching safely with 12 walks and a hit-by-pitch.
 
Nick Thimsen has also appeared in all 40 games this season for the Golden Bears. The junior outfield has notched 49 hits with 10 doubles, four triples and five home runs at the plate. He has scored a team-best 32 runs, while driving in 28 base runners and leads the team with eight stolen bases.
 
Jonah Lewis (3-5) has an earned run average of 4.94 in a team-leading 54.2 innings pitched. The junior right-hander has faced 220 batters with 46 strikeouts and has only walked 18 batters.
 
Korey Dahlberg (4-5) has provided quality innings as a starter on the bump for the Golden Bears. The sophomore right-hander has faced 215 batters with 46 strikeouts and only 18 walks.
 
Eric Lundell (2-3) (5) has shined in the relief role for Concordia this season. The junior right-hander has appeared in 18 games with an earned run average of 3.77 and 24 strikeouts.
 
LAST TIME OUT
Concordia baseball dropped last weekend's series to the Augustana Vikings on the road at Ronken Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota.
 
In game one, the two teams traded blows in the early innings, with Concordia holding a 3-1 lead heading into the sixth inning. However, the Vikings were able to use a five run sixth inning to capture the 6-3 victory in game one of the doubleheader.
 
Thimsen excelled at the plate after going 2-3, which included a pair of home runs that accounted for all three of the Golden Bears' runs. Bryce Nelson, Brohmer, Werner and Justin McGuigan each contributed with a hit each in the eight hit performance.
 
Dahlberg made his 10th start of the season for CSP this season. The sophomore went 5.1 innings with a pair of strikeouts, allowing only three walks and a pair of runs in the no-decision. From the bullpen, Lundell (2-3) was charged with the loss and Matt Sherman closed the game out with 1.1 innings and a strikeout.
 
In game two, Augustana carried over their momentum from game one into the second game, as they used a strong 16-hit performance that included five home runs and four doubles to best the Golden Bears, 14-4.
 
Thimsen, Werner, Mason Nadolney, and Mason Wolf each had multi-hit games to combine for eight of Concordia's 11. Juliar was the lone Golden Bear to record an extra base hit in the contest with a double to left field in the sixth.
 
Lewis (3-5) also made his 10th start of the season with 5.0 innings of work and ended with a game-high six strikeouts. Leo Bustos recorded 3.0 innings with a trio of strikeouts and only one walked batter from the bullpen. Carter Schulte appeared on the mound for the second straight game as a closer with a strikeout in the final inning.
 
In the Sunday finale, the Vikings were able to control the game throughout the contest, as they jumped out to an early 6-0 lead before the Golden Bears found the score column with a trio of runs in the sixth. However, Augustana was able to match the three runs in the next half innings to secure the 9-3 victory.
 
Concordia was able to notch eight hits in the contest. Brohmer, Werner and Wolf each had multi-hit games at the plate after going 2-4 in the afternoon, while Werner and Juliar each added home runs.
 
The pitching staff was busy as six pitchers saw the mound in the finale. Sophomore Reece Piontek (1-3) made his fifth start of the season and totaled four strikeouts in 4.0 innings. Freshman Jack Nicklaus provided a solid outing on the bump with four strikeouts in 1.2 innings.
 
CONFERENCE STANDINGS
With the end of the regular season concluding this week, teams are preparing for their final push for seeding and the final spot in the conference tournament. The top 8 teams in the final regular season standings will qualify for the tournament that will be held at the University of Mary on May 10-13.
 
With five games remaining in the regular season, Concordia is currently on the outside looking in as they are currently in the nine spot. The Golden Bears are currently 2.0 games behind Wayne State and 2.5 games behind Winona State, while ahead of Upper Iowa by one game and two games ahead of Mary.
 
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST USF
The Golden Bears and Cougars have met 35 times dating 2012 with the CSP holding a 20-15 advantage. Concordia claimed the inaugural game of the series in 2012, 11-8, in St. Paul. Sioux Falls comes into the matchup on a five-game winning streak after claiming the last two series over the Golden Bears. Concordia's longest winning streak of the series is eight games from 2014-16, and their largest margin of victory of 12 runs came during that time. CSP has scored a total of 190 runs and averages 5.43 runs a game.
 
ABOUT THE COUGARS
Sioux Falls posted a 25-27 (17-18 NSIC) record in the 2022 campaign and was picked to finish eighth in the NSIC Preseason Coaches' Poll with 108 points.
 
The Cougars hold a record of 13-32 (12-19 NSIC) and are currently 12th in the NSIC conference rankings ahead of Minnesota Duluth, Northern State and Bemidji State.
 
USF went 1-13 in non-conference with their lone winning coming against Wilmington by a score of 4-0 at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational on March 8th.

Sioux Falls dropped last weekend's series to the Wayne State Wildcats, 2-1, but claimed the series finale 8-7 to avoid the sweep. Prior to the series with the Wildcats, the Cougars swept the Upper Iowa Peacocks after outsourcing them 32-2 over the two games combined.
 
The batter to watch for the Cougars is Brady Klehr, who has slashed .392/.470./.589 with 62 hits, 43 runs and 34 RBIs. The junior has collected 18 extra-base hits that include 10 doubles, three triples and five home runs.
 
For the pitchers, junior Grayson Skinner has led the way for Sioux Falls with a 2-4 record, a 7.20 earned run average and 38 strikeouts. He has allowed 53 hits and 34 earned runs in 55.0 innings pitched.
 
SERIES HISTORY AGAINST MSU
The Golden Bears and Mavericks have met 47 times dating back to 2000 with MSU holding a 7-40 advantage. The Mavericks have claimed nine of the last 10 matchups between the two squads. CSP's last win came in neutral site play with a 7-4 victory in Sioux Falls, and their largest margin of victory came in 2010 with a 17-7 win in Mankato. Concordia has scored 155 runs with an average of 3.3 a game.
 
ABOUT THE MAVERICKS
Minnesota State posted a 39-9 (28-5 NSIC) record in the 2022 campaign and was picked to repeat as the NSIC Champions with 188 points and eight first place votes.
 
The Mavericks hold a record of 30-13 (20-8 NSIC) and are currently second in the conference standings behind Augustana and just ahead of Minnesota Crookston.
 
In non-conference play, Minnesota State went 10-4 with wins against Central Regional opponents Missouri Western, Missouri Southern of the MIAA while adding a pair of wins to claim a road series against Division I Lindenwood (Mo.).
 
MSU is coming off their second conference series defeat of the season after dropping the first two games yesterday at Minnesota Crookston. Before the series with UMC, the Mavericks split with Winona State at home after sweeping USF the weekend before.
 
The batter to watch for the Mavericks is Jackson Hauge, who has slashed .329/.441/.612 with 50 hits, 34 runs and 48 RBIs. The junior has collected 21 extra-base hits that include seven doubles, six triples and eight home runs.
 
For the pitchers, junior Nathan Culley has led the way for Minnesota State with a 6-3 record, a 3.24 earned run average and 77 strikeouts. He has allowed 49 hits and 21 earned runs in 58.1 innings pitched.