MARSHALL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul baseball (16-13, 8-12 NSIC) dropped Saturday's doubleheader to Southwest Minnesota State (17-11, 11-8 NSIC) at Legion Field after falling by one run in both games.
 
The Golden Bears will return to action at home next Wednesday for a midweek clash against the St. Cloud State Huskies. The first pitch from Bob Barnes Field is projected to begin at 1:30 p.m., with game two following directly after.
 
GAME ONE: CSP 2 SMSU 3 (Nine Innings)
Concordia dropped a difficult decision in game one that went into extra innings. After finding themselves up 2-0 early, the Mustangs clawed their way back into it before winning with an RBI walk in the ninth.
 
Kal Brohmer shined behind the plate with a perfect 3-3 outing that included a double and a pair of RBIs. However, the hits were challenging to come by as the Golden Bears were held to five for the game's entirety while SMSU collected 10.
 
On the bump, Reece Piontek made his sixth start of the season for the Golden Bears. The junior lefty batted for 4.0 innings, collecting a season-high five strikeouts and allowing only one earned run in the no-decision.
 
In the second inning, following a throwing error that allowed Jaden Werner to reach and a single up the middle from Bryce Nelson, the Golden Bears struck first after Brohmer lasered a 2-RBI double to left center field with two outs in the inning.
 
The Mustangs evened the game at two runs apiece, with a run in the third following a CSP error and a run in the fourth after a wild pitch, which allowed Chase McDaniel to score.
 
Eric Lundell made his eighth appearance of the season after relieving Piontek in the fifth inning. The senior collected 4.0 innings of work with four strikeouts, including a pair of strikeouts in the bottom of the seventh to send the game into extra innings.
 
In the bottom of the ninth inning, after Southwest Minnesota State loaded the bases, an RBI walk from Jaxon Haase propelled them to the 3-2 victory. Matt Sherman (3-2) was charged with his second loss of the season following the final sequence.
 
GAME TWO: CSP 5, SMSU 6 (Seven Innings)
The Golden Bears started strong and led by as many as three runs at the midway point, but the Mustangs rallied with three runs in the fourth and claimed the win with a walk-off single in the final inning.

Concordia collected eight hits in the game, highlighted by a home run from Bennett McCollow. Nick Thimsen and Koby McBroome each had a multi-hit game, while Werner added an extra-base hit with a double.
 
The pitching staff had three Bears see action in game two. Ian Segna made his sixth start of the season on the mound for the Navy and Gold, where he collected a team-leading two strikeouts. Jack Nicklaus (1-1) was charged with his first loss of the season, and Andrew Boeser closed the game on the bump.
 
Concordia got off to another hot start against the Mustangs with a pair of runs in the opening inning. The scoring started with a sacrifice fly from Thimsen and an RBI double from Werner.
 
The Golden Bears added another two-run inning in the third to go up 4-1. A wild pitch allowed McBroome to cross for the first run, and Thimsen drove home McCollow with an RBI single for the second run.
 
Southwest Minnesota State struggled to find the offense until the fourth inning, where they tallied three runs off four hits, highlighted by a 2-run home run from Keenan Wenzel to tie the game at 4-4.
 
McCollow collected the final run for the Golden Bears in the fifth inning with his second home run of the season that sailed over the fence in left field to make the score 5-4.
 
The Mustangs erased a one-run deficit in the sixth before winning with an RBI single from Jake Tauer in the seventh to claim the game, 6-5.