ST. PAUL, Minn. - Concordia-St. Paul baseball (20-22, 15-15 NSIC) enters its final road swing of the 2026 season, opening with a Wednesday doubleheader at 2 p.m. at Augustana (28-12, 21-6 NSIC) at Ronken Field in Sioux Falls, South Dakota. The trip to Sioux Falls begins a five-game road slate as CSP will then travel to Bismarck, North Dakota for a three-game weekend series at UMary (25-15, 18-9 NSIC).

The final stretch of the season features eight games for Concordia, as the Golden Bears catch a break on the final week of the season with a midweek bye. Concordia closes out the season with a three-game home series against Bemidji State (8-29, 5-21 NSIC).

The league standings are crowded in various spots, as Augustana is aiming for an NSIC regular season championship, trailing #17 Minnesota State by 2.0 games. The Vikings are coming off of an 0-3 weekend against MSU, though, dropping the series by a total of six runs to the Mavericks. 

Meanwhile, CSP is three games behind fourth-place Sioux Falls (16-10), two games behind fifth-place Winona State (15-11), 1.5 games behind sixth-place Minnesota Crookston (15-12) and a game behind St. Cloud State (14-12).

WEDNESDAY WEATHER
Wednesday is headed for a hot, sunny and windy day in eastern South Dakota with a first pitch forecast of 87 degrees with a 22 mile per hour wind out of the south, gusting to 33. The forecast high of 90 degrees for the day comes in the 4pm-5pm portion of the afternoon, and will remain 85 degrees by 7pm. Winds will climb slightly with the temperature, reaching 24mph with gusts of up to 37mph throughout the doubleheader. 

SERIES HISTORY: AUGIE 44, CSP 6
Last year's 6-4 win for Concordia over Augustana at Barnes Field halted a 16-game winning streak for the Vikings as CSP secured the win in game three of last year's weekend series in St. Paul. Concordia actually performs best against Augustana on the road, where three of the six all-time wins have been banked (3-18), compared to two wins at neutral sites (2-14) and one at home (1-12) which was last year's 6-4 win in the series finale. 

Concordia has dropped 14-straight at Augustana, however, last picking up a win on the road against the Vikings with a doubleheader sweep on March 13, 2016 with a pair of 1-run wins (2-1, 4-3) in non-conference road games. 

PROJECTED STARTING PITCHERS
CSP
Lou Walker, LHP: 3-1, 7.16 ERA, 2.13 WHIP, 9 app/4 gs, 27.2 IP, 7-15 SO-BB, .373 oav
Evan Newlander, LHP: 1-2, 7.11 ERA, 1.70 WHIP, 7 app/6 gs, 25.1 IP, 33-19 SO-BB, .255 oav
Christian Lindow, RHP: 2-1, 9.98 ERA, 2.61 WHIP, 9 app/1 gs, 15.1 IP, 14-11 SO-BB, .403 oav
Jack Thompson, LHP: 1-3, 10.33 ERA, 2.11 WHIP, 9 app/6 gs, 27.0 IP, 26-19 SO-BB, .355 oav

AUGIE
Mariano Gomez, LHP: 6-0, 3.35 ERA, 1.09 WHIP, 9 app/8 gs, 45.2 IP, 59-20 SO-BB, .189 oav 
Ethan Hoffman, RHP: 5-2, 3.89 ERA, 1.20 WHIP, 10 app/9 gs, 44.0 IP, 49-14 SO-BB, .232 oav

PLAYER NOTES
The second base platoon of Jack Setterlund and Nick Carlson has been a solid source of OBP for the Golden Bears, with Setterlund currently riding a hot streak for the Golden Bears and drawing seven-straight starts in the lineup. Since his lineup insertion, Setterlund has raised his average from .289 to .309 by going 6-17 at the plate, drawing four walks, a HBP and a pair of sacrifice flies while scoring six and driving in four runs. He's scored two runs in a game in three-straight and is coming of back-to-back two-hit performances against Northern State. On Sunday, he scored the game-winning run in each game of a doubleheader. Earlier in the season, he reached base safely in seven-straight plate appearances against Wayne State. On the season, Setterlund is hitting .309/.461/.327 with 13 runs, eight RBIs, 15 walks, three sac flies and three sac bunts. 

Carlson, meanwhile, has had a strong freshman season and has continued to provide impact to the lineup while Setterlund has started seven straight at the keystone. Carlson is second on the team with 32 walks, pair with a positive 32-17 BB-SO ratio and a .413 OBP while stealing five bases in five attempts. 

Charlie Harms opened the year by getting on base in 36 consecutive games, and after his first 0-for, he got right back into it with a new five-game reached-base streak. He also had a 19-game hitting streak as part of his reached-base streak, and has hit safely in all five games since the season-opening streak ended. He leads the team in hitting at .349 (52-149) and OBP (.484) and is tied for the team lead with 14 doubles, adding 40 runs, three homers, 29 RBIs, and a team-best 36 walks.

Gus Berger and Kaden Johnson have been the extra-base leaders for most of the season, with Berger providing a team-best 24 on 13 doubles, three triples and eight home runs while Johnson is just behind at 22 with 10 doubles, four triples and eight home runs. The eight homers by the pair lead the team. Johnson, who bats leadoff, leads the team with 51 runs and 15 stolen bases while Berger, who bats third, leads the team with 49 RBIs. They also top the team in OPS with Berger leading the team at 1.052 followed by Johnson's 1.024. 

In the cleanup spot behind Johnson, Harms and Berger is Eric Berg, a sophomore hitting .329/.416/.466 (48-146) who is second on the team with 39 RBIs and tied with Harms for the team-high of 14 doubles. He also leads the team with 17 HBP and is 6-7 in SB attempts. 

BULLPEN NOTES
The bullpen is led by Cole Newell who has pitched to a 2.22 ERA and 1.07 WHIP in 12 appearances covering 24.1 innings with a 30-14 SO-BB ratio and a .141 opponent average on just 12 hits allowed. He has a 3-0 record and two saves. Justin Benjamin leads the team with four saves and adds a win in his 12 appearances covering 14.1 innings with a 19-14 SO-BB ratio and a .232 opponent average. He holds a 5.65 ERA. Caden Carsen has also appeared in 12 games out of the bullpen but made a spot-start last week and is stretched out and capable of joining the rotation with multiple 4.0-inning outings. Carsen has a 2-2 record with two saves, a 5.34 ERA in 30.1 innings as he ranks third on the team in innings with a 25-17 SO-BB ratio and a .254 opponent average. Liam Bystol has also appeared in double-digit games out of the bullpen with 11, working 17.1 innings to a .519 ERA with a save. Cooper Mollet continues to work his way back into form and is coming off of his best outing of the year, pitching 3.0 innings against Northern State. On the year, he's appeared in three games with 4.2 innings, a 1.93 ERA and 1.29 WHIP with just two hits allowed and a 6-4 SO-BB ratio with a .133 opponent average.