SIOUX FALLS, S.D. - On a hot, sunny and windy day, Concordia-St. Paul (20-24, 15-17 NSIC) dropped a pair of games in a doubleheader at Augustana (30-12, 23-6 NSIC) at Ronken Field, falling 11-3 in game one before a close 5-3 loss in game two.

Concordia continues its tour of the Dakotas with a three-game road series this weekend at UMary (27-15, 20-9 NSIC) against a Marauders squad that has won four in a row and seven of its last eight.

The Golden Bears entered today's doubleheader having won five consecutive games and seven of its last eight while the Vikings snapped a three-game skid of their own while halting CSP's hot streak.

GAME 1: AUGIE 11, CSP 3
The Golden Bears struck first in the doubleheader as the first two batters reached with Kaden Johnson drawing a walk followed by a Charlie Harms single to put runners on the corners. During a marathon at bat by freshman Gus Berger facing Augustana's top starter Mariano Gomez, the rookie left fielder battled to a 12-pitch at bat that also featured a passed ball allowing Johnson to score the game's first run. Gomez would eventually get Berger to fly out to left, and the Golden Bears left Harms in scoring position but had the early lead.

Augustana answered by manufacturing a run in its half with a leadoff double, ground out to the right side moving the runner up and a sacrifice fly to tie the game.

Concordia threatened again in the second as freshman Nick Carlson drew a one-out walk, stole second which allowed Jack Setterlund to walk to put two on with two outs, but Gomez worked out of the threat.

The Vikings pounced on CSP's missed opportunity, putting up six runs - half of them unearned - to claim a 7-1 lead.

Carlson got on with a walk and stole second again in the fourth and CSP put two runners aboard in the fifth with one-out singles by Harms and Berger but weren't able to push any additional runs across against Gomez.

Gomez (7-0) would pick up the win for Augustana although CSP made him work for it. He threw 94 pitches in five innings, allowing just the unearned run on three hits. But he walked and struck out five as CSP had multiple chances with runners in scoring position against him.

Lou Walker took the loss, working 3.1 innings and although Augustana scored 10 runs against him, only five were earned and he issued just one walk to the 20 batters he faced on 74 pitches.

Bennett Brathol went the rest of the way for the CSP bullpen, allowing just one run in 2.2 innings on two hits and two walks. He also secured a hit in a seventh-inning at bat. A two-way player, the freshman has 19 at bats on the year while appearing in five games out of the CSP bullpen.

The Golden Bears got two back in the seventh as Nolan Swenson hit a two-run homer, knocking in Harms who was on with his third hit of the game as he went 3-4. For Swenson, it was his first career blast as the two-way freshman has appeared in three games on the mound and registered 14 at bats at the plate.

GAME 2: AUGIE 5, CSP 3
Concordia once again jumped on Augustana first in game two with Kaden Johnson leading off with a double to left, coming home on Gus Berger's one-out RBI single up the middle. An Eric Berg double to the opposite field down the right field line put runners on second and third, with Berger scoring on a two-out wild pitch.

Johnson went 3-5 with a run and an RBI in the game, with the double being his 11th, while Berg was 1-3 with a walk, steal and the double was his team-leading 15th. Berger hit the 50-RBI mark for CSP.

The two runs was a solid opening for starting pitcher Daniel Musgjerd in his third start of the season. He retired the first six batters he faced and worked around leadoff singles and stolen bases in the third and fourth innings, leaving a runner on third in the third and runners on first and third in the fourth. 

While Musgjerd was dealing, Augustana went to the bullpen after the first inning and CSP nearly gave Augustana reliever Josiah Petersen the same treatment in the second inning that they handed to Carson Walker in the first. Chase McQuade drew a four-pitch leadoff walk and Johnson singled through the left side with two outs, but Petersen escaped the threat. 

Petersen then went to work, retiring 13-straight Golden Bears into the seventh inning. 

Working into the fifth inning for the first time this season, Musgjerd finally ran into trouble, giving up a leadoff single for the third-straight inning followed by a fielder's choice sacrifice bunt to put two on with no outs. A passed ball and a walk loaded the bases and the first run scored against Musgjerd on a fielder's choice error. A sacrifice fly and a sacrifice bunt put two more in, and two more scored on a wild pitch and a balk in a four-run inning that only one run was earned against Musgjerd.

He took a tough luck loss despite allowing only one earned run in 5.0 innings. He allowed only three hits and struck out four and walked a pair while the 80 pitches he threw were a season-high in his longest outing since a near-perfect 3.1 relief innings against Jamestown on March 7 in Florida when he struck out seven of the nine batters he faced on a day when he recorded 10 outs.

In the seventh, the Golden Bears had their chance to jump back into the driver's seat as McQuade had a one-out infield single followed by walks to Nick Carlson and Jack Setterlund to load the bases, finally knocking Petersen out of the game.

Johnson came through with a one-out single to right, scoring McQuade but Carlson was thrown out at home for the second out, and the next batter was retired as CSP left two on base and had another thrown out at the plate, trailing 4-3 in the late innings. 

Petersen (2-0) picked up the relief win for the Vikings, working 5.1 innings out of the bullpen, allowing a run on two hits and three walks while striking out eight. 

Concordia threatened again in the eighth as Eric Berg drew a one-out walk followed by a pinch-hit single by Hawken Hedlund, with the duo then executing a double-steal for runners on second and third with one out placing the tying run in scoring position. An Augustana pitching change brought in Adam Diedrich in a tough spot, and he responded with a pair of strikeouts and then retired the side in order in the ninth to secure a five-out save, his third of the year.

Concordia's bullpen had another solid performance following Musgjerd's strong start. The trio of Caden Carsen, Liam Bystol and Cole Newell worked 3.0 innings, allowing a run on four hits with a strikeout and no walks. Carsen and Newell had 8-pitch innings retiring the Vikings in order with Newell getting a double play to erase the single he allowed. Bystol had a 15-pitch inning, allowing a run on three hits to the five batters he faced as the three pitchers combined for 31 pitches.