ST. JOSPEH, Mo. – The Concordia-St. Paul baseball team (1-2) dropped a 9-8 heartbreaker in walk-off fashion on Saturday afternoon in the third of a four-game series at Missouri Western State (2-4).

The Golden Bears and Griffons will wrap up the series with one final game on Sunday, with first pitch scheduled for 12 p.m.

Missouri Western jumped out ahead early with a two-run first inning, as a sacrifice fly plated the Griffons' first run and an unearned run scored on a groundout to make it 2-0.

The Golden Bears responded with a four-run rally in the fourth inning to take their first lead of the game. Freshman Gus Berger delivered a two-RBI single, followed by a bases-loaded hit-by-pitch and walk, giving Concordia a 4-2 lead. The Griffons went on to tie the game once again with a pair of runs in the bottom half of the fourth.

CSP regained control in the fifth on yet another RBI hit from Berger, this time a double, that plated sophomore catcher Eli Nelson. In the very next at bat, junior Kaden Johnson reached home safely on an RBI groundout by Charlie Harms to give Concordia a 6-4 lead.

Following a seventh inning that saw the Griffons tack one run on to cut the deficit to a single run at 6-5, Concordia created more breathing room with two runs in the eighth inning to take an 8-5 lead into the bottom of the eighth. Will Husemann scored the first on an error by the MWSU shortstop, while Eli Nelson laced a single through the left side to score freshman Bennett Brathol for the second run.

However, the Griffons mounted a late rally in the eighth, beginning with a run on a balk and followed by runs driven in by a single and a wild pitch, knotting the game at 8-8.

In the bottom of the ninth, Jordan Austin delivered the game-winning sacrifice fly for the Griffons, scoring Isaac Sobieszczyk from third to seal the 9-8 win.

Concordia finished the game with 7 hits and 4 errors, while Missouri Western tallied 9 hits and committed 1 error. The Golden Bears tallied a pair of extra-base hits in the game, both doubles, while the Griffons had just one double. The four Golden Bear errors proved costly, with four of Missouri Western State's nine runs coming across as unearned.

Berger went 2-for-5 at the plate with three RBI and a walk, while Nelson finished as the only other Golden Bear with a multi-hit game, going 2-for-3 with one RBI and one walk.

Sophomore Jack Thompson made the start at pitcher for Concordia, tossing three and two thirds innings and allowing five hits and two earned runs, with four strikeouts against just one walk. Senior Christian Lindow pitched three and a third innings of relief, giving up just two hits and a single unearned run with four strikeouts and one walk. Sophomore transfer Tyus Smith made his Concordia debut in relief and was officially charged with the loss, giving up two hits and one unearned run with two strikeouts and a walk in one and two thirds innings pitched.