ST. PAUL, Minn. - With expected feels-like temperatures in the mid-20s on Saturday, officials the coaching staffs from Concordia-St. Paul and Northern State have agreed to push this weekend's series at Barnes Field back one day, featuring a noon doubleheader on Sunday and a single 9-inning game three on Monday at noon. 

The Golden Bears (17-22, 12-15 NSIC) enter the weekend with wins in four of their last five contests including a pair of shutouts, while Northern State (11-18, 9-15 NSIC) has dropped four of its last five but snapped a four-game losing streak on Wednesday with a 10-5 win at Jamestown. Three of Northern State's four losses during the losing streak were by one run including a pair of 1-run losses to Augustana (11-12 G1, 1-2 G3).

WEEKEND WEATHER
While the weather will feel like the 20s on Saturday, it is only a marginal improvement on Sunday, but much more palatable conditions with an expected high of 48, partly cloudy conditions, a 24 percent chance of rain and a NNW 12mph wind that is lighter than Saturday's WNW 18mph wind. On Monday, things warm up with a high of 62 with the wind shifting to S 15mph. 

FOLLOW LIVE
There are multiple ways to follow Concordia baseball including mobile-friendly platforms for fans to follow at the field or on-the-go. For live video with play-by-play from the voice of Golden Bears Dan Flanagan on Sunday and local broadcast/PA talent Alex Westad on Monday, download the NSIC Network mobile app or OTT apps on devices such as Roku, Fire Stick (and more) or watch on your desktop at cspbears.com/watch. 

Live stats are also available in a mobile-friendly or desktop format at cspbears.com/livebase or by downloading the CSP Bears mobile app (mobile app live stats are optimized for home games). 

SERIES HISTORY: CSP 55, NSU 20
The Golden Bears enter the weekend with a commanding series lead and are even better against the Wolves at home, 22-2 in a series with information that dates back to CSP's entry into the NSIC and NCAA Division II-era in 2000. The Wolves haven't been to Barnes Field in a decade, though, with CSP sweeping NSU with a pair of 8-3 wins on April 20, 2016. Before that, NSU's last time at CSP was in 2011. Concordia has won 11-straight at home against Northern State and has dropped a home game to the Wolves since May 4, 2008. 

In the overall series, CSP swept a 4-game series last year in Minnetonka and have won six of the last seven games in the series. That snapped a stretch in which Northern State performed well against CSP, winning six straight from 2019 to 2021 and eight of nine to the early part of the 2024 series. 

Head coach Neil Lerner carries a 7-6 record against the Wolves and has yet to face them at Barnes Field, or on the road in Aberdeen, as CSP hasn't traveled to NSU since 2015.

POTENTIAL PITCHING MATCHUPS
teams do not announce starting pitchers to the public, this is based on season-long and recent usage trends

CSP
Ollie Yuhas, LHP: 3-3, 6.00 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 8 app/8 gs, 42.0 IP, 23-17 SO-BB, .310 oav
Ryley Wuebkers, RHP: 0-3, 9.43 ERA, 1.76 WHIP, 8 app/3 gs, 21.0 IP, 14-12 SO-BB, .305 oav
Tyus Smith, RHP: 2-2, 4.76 ERA, 1.38 WHIP, 9 app/3 gs, 28.1 IP, 19-9 SO-BB, .278 oav

NSU
Hunter Brown, RHP: 1-1, 10.20 ERA, 2.40 WHIP, 6 app/3 gs, 15.0 IP, 7-7 SO-BB, .382 oav
Maddox Plack, RHP: 2-2, 4.11 ERA, 1.50 WHIP, 7 app/1 gs, 15.1 IP, 11-11 SO-BB, .214 oav
Lance Behrens, RHP: 1-2, 11.39 ERA, 2.16 WHIP, 9 app/3 gs, 21.1 IP, 18-10 SO-BB, .383 oav

CSP BULLPEN NOTES
The Golden Bear bullpen has earned some light work over the past week as CSP starting pitchers have turned in three complete games since Saturday (Ollie Yuhas, Tyus Smith, Lou Walker). Cole Newell leads the bullpen with a 2.31 ERA and 0.99 WHIP while posting a 3-0 record with a save in 11 appearances. In 23.1 innings, Newell has registered a 29-13 SO-BB rate and holds opponents to a .125 average, allowing just 10 hits. Able to stretch out and work multiple innings, Newells last four appearances have been 2.0-plus innings and he's worked 3.0-plus innings four times. He hasn't allowed a run in his last three outings covering 9.1 innings with just two hits and two walks allowed with 12 strikeouts. The dominance extends one more outing to Minnesota State, when he allowed his last run on just one hit and one walk in 2.1 innings with four strikeouts. Including the MSU appearance, Newell's last four feature 11.2 innings, one run on three hits and three walks with 16 strikeouts. 

Justin Benjamin has also appeared in 11 games in relief, and frequently in high-leverage situations, producing a win and four saves with a 6.94 ERA. He's struck out 14 in 11.2 innings and holds opponents to a .239 average and has yet to allow a homer this season. 

Caden Carsen, who worked a solid spot-start on Wednesday against St. Cloud State, has appeared in 12 games with 11 in relief, pitching 26.1 innings with 19 strikeouts and a .270 opponent average. Carsen has a win and two saves out of the bullpen. Like Newell, Carsen can stretch out as he's pitched 2.0-plus innings eight times including his last four outings (one start). He's had a pair of 4.0-inning efforts including his start against SCSU and has pitched 3.0-plus innings five times.

Liam Bystol has worked nine games in relief, producing a 5.40 ERA with a save in 15.0 innings.

IN THE NSIC RANKINGS (NCAA)
Team
2nd - Walks, 194
2nd - Shutouts, 3 (28th)
3rd - Doubles, 70
3rd - Triples, 11
4th - Double Plays, 26

Individual
1st - Kaden Johnson, 4 triples (28th)
2nd - Gus Berger, 44 RBI
2nd - Justin Benjamin, 4 saves
2nd - Eric Berg, 15 HBP
4th - Charlie Harms, 13 doubles
4th - Nick Carlson, 31 walks (21st, 0.97/game)
4th - Charlie Harms, 31 walks
5th - Kaden Johnson, 45 runs
5th - Gus Berger, 3 triples
6th - Eli Nelson, 5 sacrifice bunts
7th - Eric Berg & Gus Berger, 12 doubles
7th - Kaden Johnson, 87 total bases
7th - Gus Berger, 4 sacrifice flies
9th - Gus Berger, .644 slugging percentage
9th - Kaden Johnson, 14 stolen bases
9th - Gus Berger, 85 total bases
9th - Gus Berger, 26 walks
10th - Gus Berger & Kaden Johnson, 8 home runs

ABOUT THE WOLVES
After splitting with a strong UMary squad at the end of March and sweeping SMSU for a 3-1 stretch of play, the Wolves found themselves in a 4-game losing streak before picking up a game two win over Jamestown on Wednesday, entering the weekend 1-4 in their last five games. 

Northern State holds a 9-15 league record in 11th place, 1.5 games (3 in the wins column) behind Concordia and UMD who are tied for ninth. In the race for the top-8 to make the NSIC Tournament field, CSP and UMD are 2.0 games out (4 in the loss column) from Winona State, while Northern State is 3.5 games out of a playoff spot and needs to jump three teams to get in the field. 

The Wolves played five non-conference games, posting a 2-3 record. 

The Wolves have four hitters hitting .300 or better, with all four posting .400-plus OBP and .500-plus slugging percentages. Dalton Kesti is the team leader in hitting (.341), OBP (.439) and slugging (.560) with a .999 OPS. He leads the team in runs (19), hits (31), extra-base hits (13), and triples (3). He's slugged eight doubles, two homers, drawn 16 walks and stolen 11 bases. 

Collin Lott leads the team with four home runs, adding seven doubles and a .543 slugging. Dillon Castellanos is the teams stolen base leader with 13 in 14 attempts and is tied for the team-lead with 19 runs, adding a 16-8 BB-SO rate. 

Ethan Price leads the bullpen with 11 appearances, a 4.02 ERA, 1.53 WHIP, a 2-0 record with three saves. He's pitched 15.2 innings with a 20-9 BB-SO rate and a .263 average. Of the 15 hits he's surrendered, only one has been for extra-bases (a double).