DAVENPORT, Fla. – Concordia-St. Paul (6-8, 3-3 NSIC) secured a Saturday split in NSIC play against the University of Jamestown (4-13, 1-5 NSIC), picking up an 11-5 win in game one before a late comeback left the Golden Bears short a run in a 5-4 game two loss.
 
The two teams will conclude the early-season series with a non-conference game on Sunday at 2 p.m. at NorthEast Regional Park in Davenport. Concordia was able to take two of three in the NSIC-side of the series.
 
In the doubleheader, Charlie Harms went 3-5 with two runs, two RBIs and four walks and Will Husemann went 2-3 with two walks, a run and two RBIs.
 
GAME 1: CSP 11, UJ 5
The Jimmies attempted to set the tone, hitting a home run on the seventh pitch of the game with one out in the top of the first for a 1-0 lead.
 
The Golden Bears pounced in the bottom of the second, though, with Chase McQuade clearing the bases with a 3-run double, and then scored a few batters later on a bases-loaded walk in a 4-run inning.
 
Concordia put up three more in the third inning, with McQuade once again coming through with an RBI single followed by a pair of runs scoring on a misplayed sacrifice bunt by Will Husemann for a 7-1 lead.
 
The lead swelled further in the fourth as Blake Eckmann drove in a pair with a single up the middle and Husemann followed with a two-run triple to right for an 11-1 lead after four.
 
That was more than enough for Ollie Yuhas, who cruised after allowing the first-inning homer. He didn't allow a runner past first base in the second, third or fourth innings as CSP mounted the double-digit lead.
 
He worked into the seventh, within range of a complete game, when Jamestown put together a late rally with right-hander Caden Carsen finishing the contest.
 
Yuhas secured the win, improving to 1-2 as he worked 6.2 innings, allowing five runs on 11 hits. Carsen retired the final out, needing just five pitches to face a pair of hitters.
 
McQuade went 2-4 with a pair of runs, a double and four RBIs, Eckmann was 2-2 with a walk, three runs and two RBIs and Husemann was 1-2 with a triple and two RBIs as three Golden Bears had 2-plus RBIs.
 
Max Kaplan added a 2-4 performance with a double and two runs, and Nick Carlson was 1-1 with two walks and three runs scored.
 
Adrian Warcken went 3-4 with a double, homer, two runs and two RBIs and Ben Patton was 3-4 with an RBI for Jamestown. Ben Bohlmann took the loss, falling to 0-3, allowing four runs in 1.1 innings. He allowed a pair of hits and walked six. Kai Mayfield worked a shutout 2.2 final innings for UJ, striking out three.
 
GAME 2: UJ 5, CSP 4
In game two, the Jimmies started the game by getting a pair of big two-out hits in the first inning, an RBI double and a two-run triple, and it ended with the Jimmies stranding the bases full of Golden Bears in the bottom of the ninth – the tying run on third and winning run on second.
 
The way the game started and ended painted the picture, as CSP had 13 runners left on base compared to just four for Jamestown.
 
After the two big two-out hits in the first, CSP starter Jack Thompson settled into a groove, retiring the next eight batters including five swinging strikeouts. He also worked around a one-out double, stranding a runner on third in the fourth as he retired 10 of 11 from the end of the first through the fourth innings.
 
Thompson would take the loss, though, falling to 0-2. He allowed five runs on five hits in 5.2 innings, striking out nine of the 27 batters he faced, a strong 33.3 strikeout percentage.
 
Daniel Musgjerd picked up where Thompson left off and raised the stakes in one of the more impressive relief outings possible.
 
He worked a perfect 3.1 innings, and pitched out of a first and third with two outs situation by getting a pickoff caught stealing of home to end the sixth inning.
 
Of the nine batters he faced after that, seven were strikeouts with five set down swinging in a brilliant 48-pitch performance.
 
After the three-run first inning, Thompson and Musgjerd did their part to shut down the Jimmies.
 
The bats closed the gap after a slow start as Jamestown starter Isaac Hanson retired the first seven batters of the game including six via the strikeout (five swinging) and had eight strikeouts among his first 10 outs, only issuing one blemish on a one-out walk to Will Husemann in the third inning.
 
In the fourth, Charlie Harms and Eric Berg found the barrel with back-to-back doubles, and the Golden Bears knocked Hanson out of the game in the fifth inning with Gus Berger's two-out RBI single to score Husemann.
 
From there, the Jamestown bullpen did just enough to keep CSP off balance by mixing up the arms as five pitchers worked the final 4.1 innings. Payton Hochhalter pitched out of Hanson's jam in the fifth and worked out of his own jam in the sixth as Husemann stroked a two-out double to give CSP runners on second and third.
 
CSP pushed a run across Hochhalter to cut the score to 5-3 in the seventh inning with Kaden Johnson leading off with a walk, stealing second base, moving to third base on Gus Berger's grounder to the right side and scoring on Harms' RBI single.
 
Elias Harris worked out of Hochhalter's seventh inning situation, as Hochhalter recorded five outs and gave up five baserunners but CSP could only muster one run in the middle innings against him.
 
After Harris got the final two outs of the seventh, he struck out the leadoff man in the eighth for his second-straight strikeout before walking a pair to give CSP runners on first and second with one out, the tying runner on base and go-ahead run at the plate.
 
Grayson Sargent entered and struck out a pair to end the eighth-inning threat.
 
In the ninth, CSP drew a pair of walks to start the inning, once again putting the tying run on base and go-ahead run at the plate. But a quick pitching change led to Ben Patton inducing a line out and fly out. CSP's next two hitters also walked against Patton, scoring a run and putting the tying runner 90 feet from home and the winning run in scoring position.
 
Patton was able to get the final out to secure the save and Jamestown's first NSIC win, however.
 
Harms went 2-3 with a pair of walks, a run and an RBI in game two while Berger was 1-4 with a walk, a run and an RBI. Harms, Berg and Husemann each had doubles, while Johnson and Husemann each swiped a bag.
 
Hanson, Jamestown's starter, struck out 10 with just one walk in 4.2 innings, but did not factor into the decision, allowing two runs on four hits.
 
After Hanson left, Jamestown's bullpen went on to walk nine Golden Bears in 4.1 innings while CSP's pitchers issued just four free passes.
 
Sargent earned the win, entering with two runners on and striking out the only two batters he faced.
 
Jett Nelson went 2-3 with a double, triple and two RBIs to lead the Jimmies.
 
The two teams combined for 30 strikeouts in game two, with CSP's two pitchers picking up 16 of them.