ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul baseball (10-14, 5-7 NSIC) has relocated its home opening weekend series to Veterans Field at Minnetonka High School where CSP will host #26 Minnesota State (15-6, 8-1 NSIC). The series will feature a Saturday doubleheader at 1:30 p.m. and a Sunday single game at noon.

It is expected to be a dry weekend in Minnetonka, with a high of 53 and 16mph wind on Saturday, warming to 65 on Sunday with a 10mph wind. 

The games will feature standard live coverage with a free webcast and live stats, permitting availability at the facility. As of Wednesday afternoon, limitations on-site would cause live coverage to be interrupted or canceled altogether.

SERIES HISTORY: MSU 47, CSP 7
The Golden Bears enter the weekend series looking to snap a 16-game losing streak against the Mavericks, last defeating MSU 7-4 in the first round of the 2019 NSIC Tournament in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. Concordia's last NSIC win over MSU was a 5-4 win in 2016 in Mankato as CSP aims to eliminate a 19-game skid in NSIC play against MSU.

This will be the first time the programs meet in Minnetonka, although four of CSP's seven wins in the series have come in 14 meetings at neutral sites. CSP also won the last neutral site meeting between the teams in the 2019 NSIC Tournament in Sioux Falls. 

Last year, the teams met for a doubleheader in Mankato, with the Mavericks winning 10-0 and 6-0.

IN THE NSIC RANKINGS (NCAA RANKS)
Team
2nd - 54 doubles per game (32nd, 2.25/game)
2nd - 128 walks
2nd - 11 triples (12th, 0.46/game)
3rd - 17 double plays turned
5th - .404 on base percentage
5th - 173 runs

Individual
1st - Kaden Johnson, 4 triples (9th)
1st - Nick Carlson, 25 walks (12th, 1.14/game)
2nd - Gus Berger, 29 RBI
2nd - Justin Benjamin, 3 saves (36th)
3rd - Gus Berger & Charlie Harms, 10 doubles
4th - Gus Berger, 3 triples (24th)
4th - Eric Berg, 8 HBP
6th - Gus Berger, 19 walks
7th - Eric Berg, 9 doubles
7th - Max Kaplan, 2 triples
8th - Kaden Johnson, 11 stolen bases
9th - Kaden Johnson, 1.13 runs/game

ABOUT THE GOLDEN BEARS
Charlie Harms is leading the Golden Bears in hitting (.375, 33-88) and OBP (.491) while ranking third in slugging (.523). He is tied for the team lead with 10 doubles, second on the team with 25 runs and third on the team with 19 RBIs. He had a 19-game hitting streak and has reached base safely in all 24 games with a hit, walk or HBP. He also has a team-best 12 multi-hit games, accounting for half of CSP's games, and a positive 18-10 BB-SO ratio. 

Harms leads four Golden Bears hitting .300 or better, followed by Eric Berg's .326/.398/.461 (29-89) slash with nine doubles while ranking second on the team with 21 RBIs. 

The top-two sluggers on the team have been Kaden Johnson (.547, 12 XBH) and Gus Berger (.625, 16 XBH). Berger is hitting .313/.442/.625 (25-80) with 10 doubles, three triples and a team-best three homers, driving in a team leading 29 RBIs with 20 runs and a positive 19-15 BB-SO ratio. Johnson has hit .314/.434/.547 (27-86) with a team-high 27 runs, four triples and 11 stolen bases. He's added six doubles, two homers and 14 RBIs. 

Freshmen middle infielders Max Kaplan and Nick Carlson have each made their separate impact as Kaplan has two triples and committed just one error in his first 22 games (21 starts) while Carlson has a staggering 25-10 BB-SO ratio, .438 OBP and 18 runs scored to start his career.

Pinch hitting on Friday and then starting on Saturday at Wayne State, Jack Setterlund got on base seven-straight plate appearances after putting down a sacrifice bunt in his pinch-hit appearance. He's now hitting .370/.514/.407 (10-27) in 15 games (8 starts) with seven runs, four RBIs, seven walks and two HBPs. 

Concordia's catchers Chase McQuade and Eli Nelson have each hit a pair of home runs and three doubles and combined for 19 RBIs and 21 runs in 95 at bats as a tandem. 

PROBABLE STARTERS
Game 1: 
CSP, Ollie Yuhas, LHP: 2-2, 5.40 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 5 GS, 23.1 IP, 10-12 SO-BB, .333 oav
MSU, Sam George, LHP: 4-0, 0.93 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 5 GS, 29.0 IP, 32-5 SO-BB, .200 oav

Game 2: 
CSP, Tyus Smith, RHP: 0-1, 4.11 ERA, 1.43 WHIP, 6 app, 1 GS, 15.1 IP, 10-6 SO-BB, .271 oav
MSU, Mack Crowley, RHP: 4-0, 2.48 ERA, 0.90 WHIP, 5 GS, 29.0 IP, 20-7 SO-BB, .188 oav

Game 3: 
CSP, Jack Thompson, LHP: 0-2, 7.08 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 5 GS, 20.1 IP, 22-11 SO-BB, .303 oav 
MSU, Louis Magers, RHP: 1-2, 4.73 ERA, 1.35 WHIP, 4 app, 3 GS, 13.1 IP, 11-8 SO-BB, .208 oav
or
MSU, Daniel Zang, RHP: 1-1, 2.78 ERA, 1.19 WHIP, 5 app, 3 GS, 22.2 IP, 33-13 SO-BB, .175 oav