MANKATO, Minn.-Concordia-St. Paul baseball (17-28, 13-18 NSIC) fell in the final game of the 2023 season on the road against the Minnesota State Mavericks (35-13, 25-8 NSIC) on Sunday afternoon at Bowyer Field.
 
Concordia baseball saw improvements from a season ago, as they improved their record in league play from 11-22 (.333) to 13-18 (.419). The Golden Bears claimed series against the Bemidji State Beavers, the Mary Marauders, the Minot State Beavers and the Minnesota Duluth Bulldogs.
 
The two squads battled in a low scoring affair through seven innings with MSU holding a one-run lead heading into the final two frames. However, Mavericks added four insurance runs to secure the 7-2 victory.
 
Concordia recorded seven total hits on Sunday afternoon with Mason Wolf leading the way as the lone Golden Bear to have a multi-hit performance with a pair of singles in the game. The center fielder capped off his career ranked seventh in fielding percentage (.994).
 
Nick Thimsen added an extra-base hit with a double and had a pair of RBIs, while Brayden Roybal led the team with two runs scored and Mason Nadolney reached base safely twice due to walks.
 
Reece Piontek made his fourth start of the season on the bump. The sophomore lefty finished with six strikeouts while allowing six hits, two runs and a walk. Matt Sherman (0-2) was charged with the loss despite only giving up only one run and two hits while collecting a strikeout in 1.1 innings pitched.
 
The Golden Bears were able to strike first after Roybal kicked off the opening half-inning with a leadoff single and eventually scored after Thimsen successfully used a fly ball to center field to drive the second baseman in from third.
 
MSU responded with a run of their own in the bottom of the second inning with an infield RBI single to make the score 1-1.
 
Neither team could find their offense for the next three innings with a pitching duel forming between Piontek and the Mavericks' first two arms until MSU was able to grab their first lead of the contest with a sacrifice fly RBI in the sixth inning.
 
CSP responded in the next inning with their final run of the game, as Thimsen used an RBI double to right center field to push Roybal across the plate for the second time, making the game 2-2.
 
However, the Mavericks answered with five unanswered runs in the final two innings that was highlighted by a 3-Run home run in the eighth to claim the 7-2 victory.