BEATRICE, Neb. - Concordia-St. Paul (12-7, 4-6 NSIC) senior outfielder Nick Thimsen belted four home runs in his first four at-bats of game two, but it wasn't enough as Minnesota Crookston (11-9, 5-5 NSIC) claimed today's doubleheader at Christensen Field.
 
Thimsen's four homer day is the most on record for CSP baseball, which holds nearly 25 seasons of game data. Three others had hit three home runs in a game, and Thimsen's prior personal best was a pair of two-homer outings.
 
Mason Nadolney added a pair of home runs, while Bennett McCollow and Will Husemann tallied solo shots of their own for the Navy and Gold. The eight total team home runs are the most hit in a single game on record in program history, with six against Minnesota Duluth on April 08, 2004, being second-most.
 
GAME ONE: CSP 3, UMC 12
Minnesota Crookston found a rhythm midway through the opening game that ultimately carried into the latter half with 12 runs and 17 hits to secure the nine-run victory.
 
Korey Dahlberg (2-1) started on the bump for the Golden Bears in game one. The Farmington, Minnesota native picked up his first loss of the season despite holding the Golden Eagles scoreless for the opening two frames and collecting six strikeouts.
 
Neither team scored in the first and second inning, but UMC broke the gridlock with eight runs throughout the next three innings, highlighted by a 2-run homer from Danny Wensloff. Their best inning of this run came in the fourth, scoring five runs on four hits.
 
After finding themselves in a down big in the sixth inning, Husemann sparked the offense with a leadoff double, followed by a walk from Jeremy McGuigan to put a runner in scoring position. Husemann finished the game a perfect 2-2 with a double while adding a run, RBI and walk. Later in the sixth, with a full count, Thimsen lasered a ball down the right field line to drive Husemann home for the Golden Bears' first run of the game.
 
Minnesota Crookston added another 4-run inning in the seventh, extending their lead to 11 runs due to a 3-run home run from Caden Headlee followed by a solo shot from Jake Hjelle.
 
In the bottom half of the final inning, Landon Behringer led off the inning strong with a double to center field before Husemann drove him in with an RBI single. Chris Jacobs added CSP's final run of the game with a pinch-hit RBI single that drove home Lamine Diaby-Gassama, but it was enough as UMC won the game 12-3.
 
GAME TWO: CSP 13, UMC 18
Game two of the doubleheader was a rollercoaster of a game that saw the two teams combine for 31 hits, which included 13 home runs. After the Golden Bears tied the game in the bottom of the eight, the Golden Eagles answered with a 5-run ninth in the route to the 18-13 victory.
 
Gavin Rusch picked up a no-decision on the mound for CSP after finishing with six strikeouts in 4.1 innings pitched. Eric Lundell (2-2) was charged with his second loss of the 2024 campaign.
 
Concordia opened the game strong by striking first in the run column after Thimsen (4-5) began his record-setting game with a home run to right field on the first pitch that he saw.
 
Crookston answered right back with four runs on four hits in the second inning after hitting back-to-back homers from Kobe Senn and Sawyer Satrom to go up 4-1.
 
In the third inning, after McCollow (2-4) was hit by a pitch to lead off the inning, Thimsen added his second home run to right field to bring the Golden Bears within one. Husemann tied the game at four runs with his second career home run on the next at-bat.
 
The Golden Bears added three more runs in the fourth inning to regain the lead, highlighted by Thimsen's 3-run homer (third homer of the game) that scored McCollow and Justin McGuigan.
 
Following UMC tying the game at seven runs in the fifth, Nadolney blasted his team-leading ninth home run of the season to left center field to give CSP an 8-7 advantage.
 
McCollow added his first home run of the season in the sixth, and Thimsen made history with his fourth homer of the game to give CSP their final outright lead of the contest of 10-9.
 
Nadolney provided late heroics with a 2-run home run with two outs in the inning to deep center field to tie the game 13-13 heading into the final inning, but it was not enough as Minnesota Crookston tallied five runs on a pair of hits in the ninth to claim the back-and-forth win.
 
UP NEXT
The Golden Bears and Golden Eagles will conclude their four-game Nebraska based series tomorrow with the doubleheader finale at Christensen Field. The first pitch for game one is scheduled for 11:00 a.m., with game two following shortly afterward.