ST. PAUL, Minn. - The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (17-13, 9-13 NSIC) opened home play on Wednesday with a doubleheader split against the St. Cloud State Huskies (19-12, 15-5 NSIC) at Barnes Field. CSP claimed the opening game with a wild 12-11 comeback rally before dropping game two in eight innings, 15-5.
 
The Golden Bears will return to action at Barnes Field this weekend with a doubleheader against the Wayne State Wildcats (21-9, 16-4 NSIC). Action will begin on Saturday with a doubleheader starting at 1:30 p.m. and the series will conclude on Sunday with a single-game finale at 12:00 p.m.
 
GAME ONE: CSP 12 SCSU 11
After dropping an early lead and finding themselves down by as many as seven runs, Concordia used a heroic eight-run sixth inning to secure a wild comeback victory in game one against the Huskies.
 
With the win, the Golden Bears snapped a three-game losing streak and halted SCSU's six-game winning streak that carried into the midweek tilt. This game marked the third time that CSP has been victorious against the Huskies in 14 games between the two squads at Barnes Field.
 
Noah Juliar shined at the plate for the Golden Bears in game one with a perfect 2-2 showing that included a home run, three RBIs, two runs scored and a pair of walks. Koby McBroome (1-3), Jaden Werner (2-3) and Mason Nadolney (2-3) all provided big barrels with home runs that contributed to CSP's 12 team hits in the game.
 
On the bump, Logan Shaffer made his second start (seventh appearance) of the season for the Navy and Gold and collected a strikeout in the no-decision. Andrew Boeser (1-2) secured his first win of the season and Eric Lundell (2) added his second save of the season after closing the show on the mound.
 
The Golden Bears shot out of a cannon in the opening frame with three runs on four hits. McBroome opened the scoring with his second home run of the season in the leadoff spot. Werner then drove in Thimsen, who reached with a double, later in the inning with his fifth home run of the season to give CSP an early 3-0 advantage.

However, the Huskies responded with a strong third inning that saw them plate four runs on four hits, highlighted by a 2-RBI double that carried down the right field line to claim their first lead, 4-3.
 
Concordia tied the game in the fourth with a sacrifice fly RBI from Nadolney, but St. Cloud State reclaimed the lead with five runs in the fifth and later extended their lead to 11-4 with back-to-back sacrifice fly RBIs in the following inning.
 
With their backs against the wall, the Golden Bears showed out in the sixth inning with an eight-run rally. Nadolney started the scoring with a 2-run homer to left field, which was followed by an RBI walk from Werner and a 2-RBI double from Husemann to cut the deficit to only two runs. Juliar capped off the explosive inning with the go-ahead 3-run bomb to left center that secured the 12-11 victory over the defending NSIC Tournament Champions.
 
GAME TWO: CSP 5, SCSU 15 (Eight Innings)
CSP struggled to keep up with the high-powered SCSU offense in the second game of the doubleheader. St. Cloud opened the game with a nine run lead and used four runs in the final frames to claim the run-rule victory.
 
As a team, Concordia collected 10 hits. Thimsen (2-4) was phenomenal from the plate with a pair of home runs, while Nadolney (1-3) collected his 13th homer of the season. Bennett McCollow (2-4) and Kal Brohmer (2-3) added multi-hit games in the loss.
 
Leo Bustos (0-1) was charged with his first loss in two starts (fourth appearance) this season. He led the Golden Bears in strikeouts with two, and David Salz racked up the most time on the bump with 3.1 innings pitched.
 
St. Cloud struck first with five runs in the opening inning, which was highlighted by a 3-run home run from Blaine Guthrie. They extended their lead to nine runs following a solo shot from Ethan Navratil and a 3-run homer by Brayden Jacobson.
 
CSP found a little momentum in the fourth and fifth innings after Thimsen and Nadolney each homered to center field and Bryce Nelson scored off a wild pitch to make the score 9-4. Thimsen added CSP's final run of the day with his second home run of the game and ninth of the season in the fifth inning.
 
The Huskies forced the doubleheader split with a pair of runs in the seventh and eighth innings, while holding the Golden Bears scoreless for the final three innings to claim the 15-5 run-rule win.