BURNSVILLE, Minn. - The Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) announced the bracket for the 2024 NSIC Baseball Tournament on Saturday evening and Concordia-St. Paul baseball (27-20, 19-19 NSIC) was named a participant for the first time since 2018.
 
The Golden Bears received the eighth seed in Neil Lerner's head coaching debut in the conference tournament and will face top-seed and No. 18 Augustana (S.D.) (41-8, 32-6 NSIC) on Wednesday in the opening round at 12 p.m. from BNC Field in Bismarck, North Dakota.
 
TOURNAMENT SCHEDULE
The first round of the double elimination tournament will consist of four games at two different locations in Bismarck. In addition to Concordia-St. Paul playing Augustana, (5)Wayne State will play (4)St. Cloud State, host (7)UMary will play (2)Minnesota State and (6)Southwest Minnesota State will play (3)Minnesota Crookston.
 
The winner of the NSIC Baseball Tournament will earn an automatic bid to the NCAA Central Region Tournament. The 38-team NCAA Central Region is made up of teams from the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference, the Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) and the Great American Conference (GAC). Automatic bids are awarded to the tournament champions from each conference with the final five spots awarded on an at-large basis.
 
HISTORY AT THE NSIC TOURNAMENT
Since joining the league in 2000, the Golden Bears have recorded a 14-19 record at the conference tournament. CSP claimed their first NSIC Tournament Championship after being named Co-Champions in 2003 and won their first outright title in 2008. Additionally, CSP has been the runner-up finisher on three occasions (2006, 2018, 2018). This season marks the first time since 2018 that the Golden Bears have appeared in the tournament and will look to give avenge their loss to then No. 11 Augustana.
 
TOURNAMENT STANDOUTS
Concordia has had three individuals named NSIC Tournament MVP. Matt Borman (2003) and Jake Schmidt (2008) securing pitcher recognition and Brenden Furrow is the lone Golden Bear recognized as a player.
 
Since 2003, 25 individuals have been named to the NSIC All-Tournament Team. Gus Varland (2016 and 2018), who is currently on the Los Angeles Dodgers pitching staff, and Schmidt (2007 and 2008), who spent time with the Chicago Cubs organization, are the only two members in program history to be named NSIC All-Tournament more than once.