FORT SCOTT, Kan. - Concordia-St. Paul (2-6, 1-2 NSIC) dropped a pair on cooler Friday afternoon at LaRoche Baseball Complex, falling 6-4 and 10-7 to Minnesota Crookston (6-5, 4-2 NSIC). The Golden Bears, who dropped the four-game series 3-1, outscored the Golden Eagles by one run in the four-game set. 

The Golden Bears will now look ahead to the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational, where they'll play 10 games from March 4-10 including their second NSIC series, a four-game set with Jamestown in the same format with three NSIC games and a non-conference contest. 

GAME 1: UMC 6, CSP 4
In a back-and-forth contest in the early innings, Friday's first game of the doubleheader saw four lead changes in the first three innings of play. UMC took the first lead with a run in the first inning, with Max Kaplan plating a pair with an RBI single in the second inning with a second run scoring on an error for a 2-1 lead.

The lead was short-lived as UMC added two more in the second before Concordia struck back in the top of the third as Gus Berger and Charlie Harms opened the inning with back-to-back doubles with Will Husemann adding a go-ahead RBI single for a 4-3 lead.

Once again, the lead wouldn't last as UMC scored two more in the bottom of the inning for a 5-4 lead. 

The bullpens took over from there, as Concordia's 'pen shut UMC down to just one run on four hits in the last five innings with six strikeouts. Justin Benjamin worked 2.2 shutout innings with four strikeouts and no walks and Cole Newell added a shutout eighth.

But UMC's bullpen was also lights-out, as Nate Heymann worked four shutout innings, turning a 6-4 lead over to Aaron Bennett and Joey Connelly for a shutout eighth and a shutout ninth. Heymann earned the win, scattering a hit and three walks with two strikeouts while Connelly secured the save. 

Jack Thompson was charged with the loss, working the first three innings, allowing four hits with a 3-0 strikeout-walk ratio. 

Kaplan went 3-4 with a double and an RBI to lead CSP's lineup while Elias Leach went 3-4 with a double and a run. 

With 10 runs combined between the teams, only one was scored against either bullpen in 11 combined innings while the teams also combined for 21 runners left on base, nine by CSP and 12 by UMC.

GAME 2: UMC 10, CSP 7
In the series finale, a non-conference game, Concordia took the game's first lead, wasting no time with leadoff hitter Kaden Johnson opening with a single, stealing second base and scoring on Eric Berg's two-out RBI double. But the bad bounces went UMC's way, as a double-play accounted for two of the outs, and while CSP reloaded the first-inning threat with a Will Husemann walk and a double-steal by Berg and Husemann to put runners on second and third, the inning would end with a tough-luck play as Chase McQuade singled off of Husemann for the third out. 

It would be the only run the starting lineup would produce until the final inning when Concordia's bench rallied. But prior to the final inning, CSP received a strong start from freshman Evan Newlander, who worked into the fifth inning with a 1-1 tie before UMC finally broke through. He rolled through the UMC lineup the first two times through with seven strikeouts through four innings. But UMC's cleanup hitter Americo Sculati, who struck out his first time up and popped out in his second at bat in the fourth inning, came up with a game-changing three-run homer with two outs in the fourth inning.

Newlander would take the loss, allowing five runs (four earned) in 4.2 innings with a 7-2 strikeout-walk ratio and four hits allowed as UMC broke open a 1-1 tie for a 5-1 lead after five innings.

The Golden Eagles tacked on five more in the sixth inning for a 10-1 lead, but the Golden Bear bench had other plans for how the series would wind down.

Pinch-hitting to lead off the seventh, Blake Eckmann doubled down the left field line, opening up a string of the first five batters reaching base - all pinch-hitters. Eckmann scored on Tate Gage's RBI single up the middle, followed by Hawken Hedlund's RBI double to left. A couple of wild pitches and a walk to Luke Lehnen allowed Hedlund to score and Nolan Swenson was hit by pitch to put two aboard. With two on and one out, CSP's first starter in the game reached base in the inning with a walk to Charlie Harms to load the bases.

Eric Berg followed with a bases loaded walk for his second RBI of the day, and Swenson would come across to score on a wild pitch, opening up first base for Husemann to draw a walk to reload the bases - still with one out. 

Batting for the second time in the inning, Eckmann drove in a run with a single through the right side before UMC closer Joey Connelly came in with the bases loaded and one out and a three-run lead to get the final two outs for his third save of the year and second of the day on six pitches, leaving the tying run on base and go-ahead run at the plate. 

Berg went 2-3 with two RBIs and a walk while Eckmann and Jack Setterlund each went 2-2 in the game, Eckmann scoring once and driving one home in his two times up in the seventh. 

Sculati did the damage for UMC, going 2-4 with a pair of home runs and five RBIs while Connor Bushbaum was 2-4 with two runs and three RBIs. 

UMC starter Nate Benning picked up the win, allowing a run on seven hits in five innings with five strikeouts. 

SERIES NOTES
The Golden Bears used 17 different position players in the series, with 11 different players getting a start, while 15 different pitchers contributed on the mound. Gus Berger had a big weekend, hitting .333/.474/.867 (5-15) with two doubles, two home runs and eight RBIs. The freshman drew four walks and scored four times, as well. Max Kaplan hit .417 (5-12) and Eric Berg hit .400 (6-15) and both had .500-plus OBP's and drove in five runs apiece. Berg had three doubles and scored five times. Charlie Harms led the team with six runs scored, hitting .313 (5-16) with a pair of doubles and three walks. Nick Carlson posted a .615 OBP for the weekend, going 2-7 (.286) at the plate with six walks and did not strike out in his 13 plate appearances. 

Justin Benjamin, Caden Carsen and Cole Newell each had a 0.00 ERA with two-plus innings out of the bullpen, combining to pitch 6.2 innings in four appearances with nine strikeouts, allowing just five hits - all singles. Benjamin struck out four in 2.2 innings while Newell struck out four in 2.0 innings.