ST. CLOUD, Minn. – In a midweek NSIC baseball doubleheader that claimed nearly eight total hours, including a 45-minute game two lightning delay, and an up-and-back bus trip, Concordia-St. Paul (15-17, 11-11 NSIC) was sent home with a pair of losses, falling 19-7 and 7-6 in 10 innings at St. Cloud State (17-15, 13-9 NSIC) at Joe Faber Field.
 
The games, originally scheduled for a 1:30 p.m. first pitch, were moved back to a 3 p.m. start, eventually succumbing to a 45-minute lightning delay in the fourth inning of game two, setting the tone for extra innings.
 
At the end of the long day, the host Huskies broke a tie in the standings with CSP as the programs sported identical overall and NSIC records entering play. SCSU is now in a fourth-place tie with CSP's weekend opponent Wayne State (17-14, 13-9 NSIC), sitting a game out of third-place Southwest Minnesota State (14-8) and two behind second-place Augustana (15-7). CSP, meanwhile, falls to a three-team tie for eighth with UMary and Minnesota Crookston, a game behind a sixth-place tie between Winona State and Sioux Falls (12-10).
 
In the doubleheader, Concordia trailed 8-4 in game one before back-to-back home runs by Charlie Harms (2-run HR) and Kaden Johnson brought CSP within one, 8-7, in the sixth inning before a back-breaking 11-run inning by SCSU claimed the first game.
 
In game two, CSP trailed 6-3 when the Golden Bears rallied in the sixth inning once again, this time with Kal Brohmer delivering a 2-run game-tying single. SCSU eventually won the game on a wild pitch and throwing error with two outs in the 10^th inning.
 
Three different Golden Bears produced 3-hit days on the afternoon led by Koby McBroome going 3-5 with three walks, a hit by pitch and a triple, but scored just one run. Eric Berg was 3-6 with a double, two runs, an RBI and two walks and Johnson was 3-8 with a double, a homer, a run and two RBIs. Harms, who hit the 2-run homer in game one, went 2-7 with two runs, four RBIs and two walks.
 
As a team, Concordia had 18 hits, drew 14 walks and three HBP, had a .407 OBP and .441 slugging percentage.
 
GAME 1: SCSU 19, CSP 7
The Golden Bears grabbed the lead in the top of the first inning with leadoff hitter Kal Brohmer wasting no time getting into scoring position with a leadoff double to left in the opposite field. He scored two batters later on Noah Juliar's RBI single up the middle.
 
Brohmer was 1-4 with a walk and two runs and Juliar was 2-3 with a pair of RBI singles, a pair of walks and a run.
 
After a scoreless first inning, St. Cloud State put up the first of four multi-run innings in the game, scoring three runs to claim the lead. Concordia would claw back each time SCSU put up runs, getting a run on a bases-loaded walk to Charlie Harms in the top of the third inning to make it a 3-2 game.
 
It was just the start of a strong day at the plate for Harms, who went 2-3 with a home run, three RBIs and his only out being a line out to the pull side at first base.
 
But with CSP cutting it to a 1-run game, SCSU added three more in the bottom of the inning for a 6-2 lead.
 
The Golden Bears struck back in the top of the fourth, with Koby McBroome leading off with a single followed by a Brohmer walk. A fielder's choice put Juliar up with runners on 1^st and 2^nd with one out, hitting his second RBI single up the middle to once again score Brohmer. After a Trett Joles single, Eric Berg produced a sacrifice fly to right field to bring Concordia within two, 6-4.
 
SCSU once again wasted no time responding with two more runs in the bottom of the inning to extend the lead back to four, 8-4.
 
While the teams played a scoreless fifth inning, Concordia stormed back in the top of the sixth with a 2-out rally starting with a hit by pitch drawn by Will Husemann, followed by a 2-run home run by Harms. With the deficit back to two runs, Kaden Johnson made it back-to-back homers, and McBroome nearly followed with a third-straight blast, but his long fly ball to center went off the wall for a 2-out triple. McBroome, the tying run, was left on third.
 
The Huskies promptly put the game away in a marathon bottom of the sixth inning, scoring 11 times and sending 14 batters to the plate.
 
McBroome was 2-2 with a triple and a pair of walks and Joles also had a 2-hit day, going 2-3 with a walk as CSP had four players with two hits en route to a 10-hit day, drawing nine walks and an HBP.
 
Concordia used six pitchers in the game with starter Sam Cooper taking the loss in his first decision. He pitched 1.0-plus innings, allowing three runs (two earned) while striking out one.
 
GAME 2: SCSU 7, CSP 6 (10)
The Golden Bears once again started strong, grabbing the first lead in the early innings. Eric Berg drew a 1-out walk and Will Husemann followed by getting hit by pitch for the second time in the doubleheader. The duo advanced a base apiece on a wild pitch to set up an RBI groundout by Charlie Harms, his fourth RBI of the day. Kaden Johnson followed with an RBI double for a 2-0 lead.
 
This time, Concordia held the lead through the bottom of the inning, and looked to add to it in the top of the third when Kal Brohmer opened things up by reaching on an error and moving to second and third on a pair of wild pitches. He would score on Bennett McCollow's RBI double for a 3-0 lead.
 
But the Huskies tacked on four in the bottom of the inning, including a 3-run homer to take the lead back from CSP, 4-3.
 
Concordia turned to the bullpen with runners on second and third with two outs, and once again, Reece Piontek delivered in a big situation with a strikeout to retire the side and keep Concordia within a run.
 
On a day when SCSU was stacking runs in big innings, Piontek worked parts of three innings, working the middle 2.1 frames in the third, fourth and fifth innings. His appearance was also derailed by a 45-minute lightning delay as pop-up storms were just close enough to disrupt play although the weather didn't impact the grounds at Faber Field.
 
Piontek struck out five of his seven outs recorded, a 45-percent strikeout rate. Although the two runs he allowed in the fifth inning extended SCSU's lead to 6-3, Concordia would tie the game in the top of the sixth.
 
In the sixth, Berg started the inning with a base hit with CSP putting runners on first and second with Harms drawing a walk.
 
With two outs, Koby McBroome was hit by pitch to load the bases, with the runners all moving up and Berg scoring on a wild pitch. With the top of the order up, Kal Brohmer produced a game-tying 2-run single.
 
Concordia turned to high-leverage reliever Jack Greenlun in the bottom of the sixth and he took control, throwing 4.0 scoreless innings to put the game in extra innings including an inning-ending double play to end the ninth.
 
In the 10^th inning, a leadoff double by Eric Berg, who advanced to third base on a wild pitch followed by Husemann drawing a walk with no outs, came up empty as SCSU closer Frankie Volkers was able to strike out the next three Golden Bears to end the threat.
 
In the bottom of the inning, Greenlun continued cruising, getting a pair of outs, a fly out to right and his fourth strikeout, before a 2-out double. The game would end on a wild pitch and throwing error, with the Huskies securing the walk-off win in extra innings.
 
Greenlun would take the tough-luck loss, falling to 1-6 despite not allowing an earned run in 4.2 innings. He struck out four while allowing three hits and four walks.  He lowered his ERA by more than a run to 4.07 in his team-leading 13^th appearance, working 24.1 innings with 25 strikeouts and a .218 opponent average out of the bullpen.
 
Piontek's five strikeouts in 2.1 innings gives him 27 strikeouts in 22.2 innings as he's compiled 13 strikeouts in 6.2 innings in his last two outings.
 
Berg went 3-4 with a double, two runs and a walk while Johnson was 2-4 with a double and an RBI. Brohmer was 1-5 with a run and two RBIs and McCollow was 1-4 with a walk, a double and an RBI.
 
In a game that went to extra innings, Concordia left six runners in scoring position in the contest, although three of those runners were on the tail-end of innings that did produce CSP's six runs.
 
Using two new starting pitchers on the day, the Golden Bear pitching staff has now had nine different hurlers get the call to start a contest in the 2025 season, with 10 different pitchers earning victories in a balanced staff.