WINTER HAVEN, Fla. – Freshman left handed pitcher Evan Newlander started the Golden Bears (3-6) off in style at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. Making his third career start, Newlander carried a no-hitter into the fifth inning and left the Golden Bears a 3-0 lead as Concordia's bullpen held on in a 3-2 win over West Virginia Wesleyan (1-8) on a nice 83 degree day at Chain of Lakes Park.
 
Newlander struck out five and walked four in a no decision. He left with runners on first and second and two outs in the fifth inning, with right handed reliever Christian Lindow striking out the WVWC leadoff hitter to end the inning as the Bobcats turned the lineup over a third time.
 
Lindow would get credit for the win, pitching CSP out of the two-on, two-out situation in the fifth inning. He would also get an out in the sixth, but a pair of walks and a pair of errors allowed a pair of unearned runs to score.
 
Sophomore lefty Liam Bystol entered and worked out of the sixth, allowing one of Lindow's runners to cross on a fielder's choice, and then worked three scoreless innings to close things out for the save.
 
Bystol faced 15 batters, retiring 11 of them on 39 pitches (22 strikes), scattering a pair of hits and a walk. In the bottom of the ninth, he worked around a leadoff double, an infield single and a stolen base to put the tying run on third and the winning run on second with one out. He induced a pop out and a fly out to close the door on the Bobcats.
 
Concordia wasted no time getting the lead for Newlander, as freshman Gus Berger continued his extra-base hit onslaught with a one-out triple, scoring on Charlie Harms' RBI single.
 
In the top of the fifth, Berger and the boys added onto the lead for Newlander, as Berger led off with a walk and reached third on Harms' double. Eric Berg was hit by pitch as the first three of the inning reached base, and Nick Carlson delivered a one-out, two-run single to extend the lead to 3-2.
 
That was all the scoring Newlander, Lindow and Bystol would need despite the two teams combining to leave 22 runners on base in the game.
 
Concordia left 12 runners aboard, leaving the bases loaded in the first, runners on first and third in the fourth and fifth, and runners on second and third in the seventh.
 
WVWC left runners in scoring position in the fourth, sixth, eighth and ninth innings and hit into an inning-ending double play with runners on first and second in the second inning.
 
Harms went 2-5 with his third double, a run and an RBI and Berger went 1-3 with a triple, two walks and two runs. Berg went 2-4 and a HBP, adding three stolen bases and Carlson was 1-3 with two RBIs, two walks and a steal as CSP stole four bases in the game. From the top of the lineup, Kaden Johnson had a 2-hit day, going 2-4 with a HBP.
 
Concordia had nine hits, drew five walks and a pair of HBP in the game while stifling WVWC to just two hits, although the Bobcats had seven walks and a pair of HBP.
 
The Golden Bears continue competition at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational with a pair of games on Thursday starting with an 8 a.m. game against Davis & Elkins (W.Va.) before an 11:15 a.m. second game against Malone (Ohio) at Chain of Lakes Park.