MINNETONKA, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul (15-15, 11-9 NSIC) picked up a Sunday sweep with 3-0 and 3-2 wins over Southwest Minnesota State (17-10, 12-8 NSIC) at Veterans Field on the campus of Minnetonka High School. The wins give head coach Neil Lerner 100 career victories. 

The Golden Bears win the series, taking 3-of-4 from SMSU as CSP has posted a 9-3 record in its last 12 NSIC games and has won five of its last six.

The Golden Bears picked up more strong pitching on Sunday as sophomore Ian Segna opened the day with his first shutout of the season and second of his career, scattering four hits and two walks in the 7-inning win. In game two, senior Fritz Meyer pitched into the fifth inning, allowing two runs in 4.2 innings before giving way to senior lefty Reece Piontek who went the rest of the way, striking out 50 percent of the 16 Mustangs he'd face to give him eight strikeouts in 4.1 shutout innings to pick up the win in relief. 

Concordia's defense was stellar behind the pitching staff, playing error-free baseball for 16 innings with CSP's pitchers accounting for 11 strikeouts among the 48 outs recorded. 

Noah Juliar had a 4-hit day, going 4-7 with a triple and an RBI and Kal Brohmer went 3-6 with two runs, a double and a walk. 

Concordia opens midweek play in the Northern Sun this week with a doubleheader at St. Cloud State scheduled for Wednesday at 1:30 p.m.

Coach Lerner (100-122, 2020-present) becomes CSP's third coach since becoming a 4-year institution in the late 1960's to hit the 100-win milestone, joining his predecessor Mark "Lunch" McKenzie (456-361-1, 2000-2019) and Mike Streitz (164-200-2, 1989-99).

GAME 1: CSP 3, SMSU 0
Concordia right-handed starting pitcher Ian Segna set the tone for the day in the first inning, getting a pair of routine fly outs to right field and stranding a 2-out single as he struck out SMSU's cleanup hitter.

Concordia wasted no time in giving him support as senior Kal Brohmer led off with a double into the right centerfield gap and scored on Trett Joles' 2-out RBI single to right center. 

Segna took it from there, pitching to contact and using his defense to keep the game moving at a rapid pace. After allowing a leadoff single in the second, he worked out of the inning with a strikeout looking for the second out and reserve catcher Eli Nelson threw out the runner stealing to retire SMSU in order. 

The Mustangs would only put a runner in scoring position twice in the first game, a 1-out single and sacrifice bunt in the fifth inning, with Segna inducing a pop-out to first, and  SMSU's best scoring chance in the sixth inning, a 1-out walk followed by a double to the left center gap. But left fielder Eric Berg delivered a strike to the relay man Koby McBroome, who threw out the runner trying to score from first base for the second out. With a runner on second and two outs, Segna induced a soft bouncer back to the mound that he jumped for and tipped with his glove, with McBroome racing in on the play and throwing the batter out on the run.

CSP added a pair of insurance runs for Segna prior to the SMSU double in the sixth as Brohmer and Bennett McCollow drew back-to-back 1-out walks, with Noah Juliar scoring Brohmer with an RBI single to center, and Berg produced a sacrifice fly to center to score McCollow. 

Segna retired the Mustangs in order in the seventh for the shutout. He scattered four hits, three being singles, and walked a pair with two strikeouts. He needed just 80 pitches (53 strikes) to improve to 4-1 on the season, lowering his season ERA to 3.16. 

He has produced five straight starts pitching at least 5.0 innings and allowing three earned runs or less and worked 5.0-plus innings in all six starts. He's won four of his last five starts and his last four decisions. 

Brohmer went 1-2 with a walk, a double and two runs from the leadoff spot and was backed up by McCollow who was 0-1 with two walks and a run in three plate appearances. Juliar (1-3), Joles (1-1, 2 HBP) and Berg (0-2, SF) each had an RBI from the heart of the order (3-4-5). 

GAME 2: CSP 3, SMSU 2
In game two, it was SMSU who would strike first with a 1-out single, a 2-out stolen base and RBI single before Fritz Meyer would induce a groundout to end the threat and minimize the damage. 

SMSU's first lead of the afternoon would be short lived, however, as Kaden Johnson and Koby McBroome delivered back-to-back RBI doubles in the bottom of the second inning to reclaim the lead. 

The Mustangs would tie the game in the fifth with three singles off Meyer, scoring one run. Meyer gave way to the bullpen with the bases loaded and two outs, with Reece Piontek coming in and getting a strikeout looking to strand the bases full of Mustangs.

Meyer allowed just two runs while working 4.2 innings, lowering his season ERA to 5.86 as he's pitched at least four innings in five of his six starts on the season. Meyer only walked and struck out one, scattering seven singles in a no decision.

Piontek getting the strikeout to end the SMSU rally in the fifth was just the start of his performance.

Concordia would give him the lead in the bottom of the inning as McBroome led things off with a single and went from first to third when Brohmer singled up the middle and score on a double play in front of Juliar's first triple of the season. 

Armed with a 1-run lead, Piontek took control, working around a 2-out single in the sixth and 2-out walk in the seventh. He struck out three in the sixth, one in the seventh and struck out the first two in a 1-2-3 eighth inning.

In the ninth, he worked around a 1-out double by getting a fly out to center and a strikeout to end the game.

The game-ending strikeout was his eighth in 4.1 innings, a 50-percent strikeout rate against 16 Mustangs. He held an 8-1 SO-BB ratio and allowed just two hits while getting the win out of the bullpen to improve to 1-0. He was efficient, throwing 44 of 64 pitches for strikes with the win being the fifth of his career.

In game two, Brohmer (2-4), Juliar (3-4) and McBroome (2-3) each had multi-hit games while Juliar had a triple and a stolen base. 

SERIES NOTES:

• All four of CSP's starting pitchers worked at least 4.2 innings, combining for a 0.71 ERA in 25.1 innings with a 14-8 SO-BB ratio and only 18 hits allowed
• On a light weekend for the CSP bullpen, no reliever was forced to pitch more than once, with four pitchers combining for a 2.35 ERA in 7.2 innings with a 13-2 SO-BB ratio and only four hits and two walks allowed
• Concordia's full staff produced a 1.09 team ERA in 33.0 innings with a 27-10 SO-BB ratio, .196 opponent average and a sub-1 WHIP (0.97)
• The Golden Bear gloves were stellar, committing just two errors with a .986 team fielding percentage
• CSP hit .196/.315/.252 (21-107) compared to SMSU's .196/.278/.250 (22-112) in the series, but CSP outscored the Mustangs 14-6 in the four games
• Noah Juliar led the lineup at .429/.467/.643 (6-14) with a double, a triple, a run, two RBIs and a stolen base
• Kal Brohmer had a .467 OBP, going 3-10 with four walks, three runs, a double and an RBI
• Charlie Harms posted a .444 OBP, going 1-6 with three walks, a run and an RBI