ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul (11-18, 6-11 NSIC) and Sioux Falls (13-14, 9-5 NSIC) will relocate their weekend series originally scheduled for Barnes Field to Kansas on Friday and Nebraska on Saturday to avoid cold, wet and potentially snowy conditions.

The games will not be broadcast, but plans are in place for live stats through CSP's live stats link (cspbears.com/livebase).

Friday will now be a single game played at Rock Creek High School in St. George, Kansas at 11 a.m. The school sits between and serves the townships of St. George and Westmoreland. The field is artificial turf, featuring covered dugouts, bleachers and lights. Friday's 11 a.m. start time is forecast for a 69 degree temperature, rising to 71 throughout the game times with cloudy conditions and wind at 18 mph with gusts to 25. Chances of thunderstorms range from 43 percent at 1 p.m. to 51 percent at 2 p.m., dropping to eight percent at 3 p.m.

Saturday will be a noon doubleheader in the Omaha community at Bellevue West High School in Bellevue, Nebraska. Game time temperatures of around 40 degrees are accompanied by a 17 mph wind gusting to 25 with a high of 50 and partly cloudy conditions. Bellevue West High School's field features a turf infield with natural outfield.

SERIES HISTORY: CSP 22, USF 17
The Golden Bears and Cougars have met 39 times since the 2013 season when Sioux Falls joined the NSIC with CSP winning 11 of the first 14 contests including an eight game winning streak from 2014 to 2016. The teams have split the last six contests. All 39 meetings have been official NSIC games as the teams have never scheduled non-conference games or faced each other in the postseason. 

They've met just once at a neutral site, a CSP 9-5 win in 2024 in Roseville.

Head coach Neil Lerner holds a 4-8 record against the Cougars since 2021.

SEASON MILESTONE WATCH
With seven combined triples, junior Kaden Johnson's four triples are tied for the fourth-most in a season in CSP history. He is one shy of a second-place tie between Bryan Lippincott (2010) and Noah Juliar (2024) and two shy of Eric Schutte's school-record six triples in 1998. Freshman Gus Berger has hit three triples.

Freshman Nick Carlson has drawn 27 walks in CSP's first 29 games, currently good for 15th on the single-season list. He's 15 walks shy of Jon Stockton's 2009 record of 42 walks in a season, with a number of former Comets and Golden Bears to pass along the way.

Sophomore Eric Berg has been hogging all of athletic trainer Joe Hoffer's ice with 11 hit by pitch, currently ranking 12th. He's only three HBP away from a five-way tie for second, with 14 HBP last achieved by Trett Joles in 2025 and first recorded by Dave Johnson in 1995. To reach the record holder, Berg will need to add to his collection of armor as Chris Duda holds the record for most HBP in a season with 21 set in 2005. Berg has been hit 21 times in his season and a half, which ranks ninth in career history, nearly halfway to Dave Johnson's career record total of 43 for the Comets from 1995-98.

The speedy center fielder Kaden Johnson is also climbing the charts in single-season stolen bases with 11, tied for 14th. He's just two shy of a tie for eighth place, but from there the gap widens, as it will take five more to reach Dan Beech with 16 steals in 1994 in seventh place, a four-player tie with 17 steals in third, reaching 19 stolen bases for second before the all-time record holder Eric Schutte's 30 stolen bases in 1998. In his career, Johnson has swiped 21 bases in 23 attempts and ranks 14th in career stolen bases, just two shy of the top-10.

On the mound, with a 20 inning requirement to be eligible, freshman Evan Newlander is fifth in most strikeouts per 9-innings with 11.81 in his 21.1 innings of work to start his career. The record holder, Jake Schmidt, actually led the nation with 13.43 strikeouts per 9 in 2009 in his 69.0 innings of work, while also serving as CSP's leadoff hitter whether he was pitching or playing in the field. CSP's top-19 pitchers in terms of strikeouts per 9 all struck out at least 10.10 batters per 9 innings.

In relief, Justin Benjamin has saved four games for the Golden Bears, cracking the top-10 in a seven-player tie for ninth. He's one save away from a tie for third with five saves last achieved last season by Jack Greenlun, and he's three saves away from the co-record holders Riley Sweeney in 2018 and Nick Anderson in 2010 with seven.

IN THE NSIC RANKINGS (NCAA RANK)
TEAM
2nd - triples, 11
3rd - doubles, 57
3rd - walks, 145

INDIVIDUAL
1st - Kaden Johnson, 4 triples (12th)
2nd - Nick Carlson, 27 walks (18th, 1.0/game)
2nd - Eric Berg, 11 HBP
2nd - Justin Benjamin, 4 saves (24th)
4th - Gus Berger, 34 RBIs
4th - Gus Berger, 11 doubles
5th - Gus Berger, 3 triples
5th - Eli Nelson, 4 sacrifice bunts
8th - Eric Berg & Charlie Harms, 10 doubles
10th - Kaden Johnson, 11 stolen bases
15th - Gus Berger, .649 slugging percentage

PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
teams do not disclose starting pitchers in advance - projections based on past usage
CSP
Jack Thompson, LHP: 0-3, 7.71 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 6/6 app/gs, 23.1 IP, 23-16 SO-BB, .310 oav
Ollie Yuhas, LHP: 2-3, 5.40 ERA, 1.63 WHIP, 6/6 app/gs, 30.0 IP, 16-13 SO-BB, .305 oav
Ryley Wuebkers, RHP: 0-1, 5.79 ERA, 1.64 WHIP, 6/1 app/gs, 14.0 IP, 9-10 SO-BB, .250 oav

USF
Jake Ammann, RHP: 3-2, 1.46 ERA, 0.95 WHIP, 6/6 app/gs, 37.0 IP, 41-9 SO-BB, .190 oav
Brady Baur, LHP: 4-1, 3.86 ERA, 1.48 WHIP, 6/6 app/gs, 25.2 IP, 35-13 SO-BB, .258 oav
Owen Weadge, LHP: 0-2, 5.76 ERA, 1.84 WHIP, 7/4 app/gs, 25.0 IP, 31-19 SO-BB, .278 oav

GOLDEN BEAR NOTES
Junior first baseman Charlie Harms has been on a tear, reaching base safely with a hit, walk or HBP in all 29 games while leading CSP in hitting at .352 (37-105), OBP (20 BB) and among the team leaders with 29 runs, 10 doubles, two home runs and 22 RBIs and is one of three hitters slugging over .500 (.505).

Typically in the leadoff spot, junior center fielder Kaden Johnson leads the team with 31 runs, four triples and 11 stolen bases, using his speed and baserunning ability to get around the bases. He's also second on the team in average at .324 (34-105) and extra-base hits (15) and third in OBP at .433 (15 BB). He's hit seven doubles and three homers to go with his four triples. 

Freshman left fielder Gus Berger paces the team in run production with 19 extra-base hits including team-bests in 11 doubles and five home runs, 34 RBIs and a .649 slugging percentage. He's also a top-four hitter at .320 (31-97), second on the team in walks (21) and OBP (.439) and third with 25 runs. 

Sophomore Eric Berg is also hitting .320 (33-103), second on the team with 26 RBIs and fourth on the team with a .410 OBP, .447 slugging and 11 extra-base hits, tied for second with 10 doubles. 

Freshman second baseman Nick Carlson is one of five regulars with a .400-plus OBP  (.408) thanks to his team-leading 27 walks and a strong 27-13 BB-SO rate, he's fourth on the team with 19 runs.

Concordia's catchers Eli Nelson and Chase McQuade each have 17 starts between catcher and DH and have combined for six doubles, four home runs and 19 RBIs with 21 runs scored. 

CSP's defense is led by shortstop Max Kaplan who has produced a .976 fielding percentage with nine double plays compared to just two errors while CSP's starting outfielders have combined for just four errors with each contributing an outfield assist. 

Concordia's bullpen is led by Justin Benjamin with four saves and a win in his nine appearances, striking out 13 over 10.0 innings with a .211 opponent batting average. Cole Newell has a 2-0 record and a save in his nine appearance with a team-best 3.24 ERA and 1.14 WHIP, striking out 20 in 16.2 innings with just eight hits allowed for a .138 average. 

Caden Carsen has also appeared in nine games out of the bullpen, matching Newell and Benjamin for the team lead, and he has produced 17.0 relief innings and 11 strikeouts with a .277 average against with a win and a save. 

ABOUT THE COUGARS
Sioux Falls sits sixth in the NSIC standings at 9-5 in league play, most recently splitting in the first midweek doubleheader of the year at home against Minnesota State, and taking two of three in a home weekend series against UMD. USF also took two of three in conference play from Northern State, Winona State and UMary, winning all four of their weekend series 2-1. 

They are coming off of a 25-15 NSIC finish to tie for third in the standings a year ago, going 32-28 overall while making a deep NSIC Tournament run with a 3-2 record in the conference tournament including a first-round win.

The Cougars are fourth in the NSIC in team ERA (5.33), fourth in fewest hits allowed (9.62/9 inn) and fourth in strikeouts (8.8/9 inn) while ranking sixth in WHIP (1.61). 

Jake Amann is third in the nation and leads the NSIC in ERA while leading the league and ranking 11th in the country in WHIP. He's also third in the NSIC with a 4.86 strikeout-walk ratio. While he anchors the rotation, Zach Peta leads the bullpen with a 2.81 ERA, 1.31 WHIP, a 2-0 record and a save among his nine appearances covering 16.0 innings with an 18-4 SO-BB ratio. 

The lineup is led by Mitch Iliff who is hitting .333/.487/.656 (1.143 OPS) with seven doubles, two triples, six home runs, 24 runs and 22 RBIs. Playing in about half the games, Drew Miller is slashing .435/.509/.587 for a 1.096 OPS (20-46) with seven doubles in 15 games/13 starts.