ST. JOSEPH, Mo. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-3) dropped the fourth game on getaway day, falling 13-10 at Missouri Western State (3-4) on Sunday at the Spring Sports Complex.

With a four-game series against a regional opponent under their belts, the Golden Bears will get an extra week to prepare for its NSIC-opening series against Minnesota Crookston (1-1), to be held at LaRoche Baseball Complex in Fort Scott, Kansas on February 20, 21, 22.

In the first four games, with a variety of new and younger players on the roster, Concordia was able to provide starts to 13 different position players while 15 different pitchers took the mound. 

In the series finale, Concordia's three catchers all provided a spark led by Chase McQuade, who was the only one of the three to catch in the contest. McQuade went 2-4 with a double and a three-run home run among his four RBIs and also drew a walk. 

Eli Nelson, who split starts behind the plate this weekend with McQuade, delivered a pinch-hit, two-run home run in the ninth inning as CSP nearly completed a comeback despite trailing 12-2 after four innings.

And while sophomores McQuade and Nelson provided the thump in the comeback attempt, freshman Davon Castro made his mark on the bump. The two-way player, who is one of CSP's three catchers, pitched the seventh and eighth innings, allowing just one run on one hit with a pair of strikeouts in his debut. 

Concordia wasted no time putting a runner in scoring position, as Kaden Johnson led off by getting hit by a pitch and promptly stole second base, his first of two times being hit by pitch, swiping a bag both times, also leading off the third inning with the HBP-SB combo meal.

On the weekend, Johnson scored five runs, all three of his hits were for extra bases with a double, triple and homer, while driving in three runs, slugging .692 and getting on at a .412 clip.

But he was left in scoring position as CSP wasn't able to start first for freshman Evan Newlander in his first career start. 

In Newlander's first inning of work, he secured a pair of swinging strikeouts but was hurt by the long ball, giving up a two-out two-run homer before ending the inning with his second strikeout.

The Golden Bears got a run back in the second with back-to-back doubles by Blake Eckmann and McQuade, with McQuade's scoring Eckmann, who went 2-5 with the double, an RBI and three runs. 

In the game, Concordia's 6-7-8 lineup pocked went 6-14 with Max Kaplan, Eckmann and McQuade each providing two-hit performances, with five runs and six RBIs. 

The Griffons countered with a six-run burst for an 8-1 lead in the bottom of the second inning with Ryley Wuebkers getting out of the frame in his debut, relieving Newlander who took the loss for CSP.

Concordia got a run back in the third with Johnson scoring after his second HBP-SB of the day, coming in after a fielder's choice and error by the Griffons. 

Concordia's offense went silent in the middle innings, stranding a two-out Gus Berger double in the fifth before getting runners on first and second with one out in the sixth, leaving the bases loaded.

The Griffons put up four more runs in the bottom of the fourth to claim a 10-run lead, but Concordia's bats came alive in the seventh inning as all nine in the lineup came up to the plate with three of the first four (Tage Gage, Charlie Harms, Nick Carlson) drawing walks to load the bases with one out as CSP's bench started to bring some energy to the game.

After an MWSU pitching change, Jack Setterlund produced a sacrifice fly to break the ice with Kaplan following with an RBI single. After Eckmann kept the inning alive by reaching on an error, McQuade popped a big fly, a three-run homer to cap the 6-run inning, bringing CSP within four runs, 12-8.

Concordia's bullpen also started to shut the Griffons down, beginning with 1.2 shutout innings from Jake McNeil who entered in the fourth and worked a shutout fifth. He was followed by Castro's two solid innings in the sixth and seventh with Caden Carsen pitching a scoreless eighth inning with a pair of strikeouts.

The three relievers combined to pitch 4.2 innings, allowing a run on three hits with five strikeouts.

Concordia had more chances, but left two aboard in the eighth inning, with Nelson producing a two-out, two-run pinch-hit homer in the ninth, leaving CSP three runs shy in the series finale. 

Nelson went 3-8 (.375) on the weekend, producing a double, homer, three RBIs and four runs while drawing two walks and adding a stolen base. 

Kaplan hit .300 in his first weekend of college baseball (3-10) and Berger had three doubles among his four hits, driving in a team-high six RBIs.

Concordia's new-look pitching staff secured 4.0-inning starts from Ollie Yuhas and Sam Kennedy, who combined to allow three earned runs over 8.0 innings and Jack Thompson pitched into the fourth inning in his debut start. Thompson and reliever Christian Lindow combined for eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings in a combined outing that surrendered just two earned runs and an 8-2 SO-BB ratio. 

Additionally, four relievers closed the book on 0.00 opening weekend ERAs: Lindow (3.1 IP), Tyus Smith (1.2 IP), McNeil (1.2 IP) and Sam Cooper (1.0 IP) while Liam Bystol (2.1 IP) and Castro (2.0 IP) each allowed only one earned run.