ST. PAUL, Minn. - This weekend, Concordia-St. Paul (20-27, 15-20 NSIC) enters its final three regular season contests with a home series against Bemidji State (9-35, 6-26 NSIC) at Barnes Field. The Golden Bears will host the Beavers for a doubleheader at noon on Friday, with senior day on Saturday at noon for the regular season finale.

The Golden Bears will be honoring six seniors and graduates this weekend: Caden Carsen, Sam Cooper, Charlie Harms, Christian Lindow, Cooper Mollett and Ollie Yuhas. 

WEEKEND WEATHER
First pitch of the series opener has a 47 degree forecast temperature with mostly cloudy conditions with a N 9 mph wind. Temperatures will slowly climb to the low 50s with a potential 55-degree high. On Saturday, conditions will be warmer with a 56-degree first-pitch temperature, warming to the low 60s throughout game time with the potential high being 67 degrees with a WSW 5-10 mph wind and a mix of sunshine and clouds. 

NSIC RACE
With the league entering its final weekend of play, Concordia (15-20) sits in 11th place in the conference standings while looking to halt a five-game losing streak. CSP will face 15th-place Bemidji State, owners of a seven-game losing streak. The Beavers will look to climb out of the bottom spot in the standings, trailing 14th-place Jamestown (8-25) by 1.5 games. Jamestown heads to sixth-place Wayne State (18-16).

The Golden Bears, meanwhile, have a realistic scenario to reach the NSIC Tournament field, which takes the top-eight teams in the final standings. CSP's hopes require success on the field in the series as the Golden Bears will need three wins to tie eighth-place Minot State (18-17), who will host fourth-place Sioux Falls (20-13) for three games in the Magic City. Additionally, CSP will need to leap past ninth-place St. Cloud State (16-17) who hosts third-place UMary (25-9) for three games, and 10th-place Minnesota Duluth (16-19), who heads to NSIC-leader Minnesota State (28-5) for three games. 

SERIES HISTORY: CSP 55, BSU 25
After dropping the first eight games in the all-time series, Concordia responded by winning 13 of the next 16 to take the series lead. In recent years, the margin has grown as Concordia has won 25 of the last 26 dating back to 2015. The Golden Bears are owners of a 16-game winning streak in the series dating back to 2019 and head coach Neil Lerner is 14-0 against Bemidji State during his tenure.

In 31 contests at Barnes Field, Concordia is 31-20 against Bemidji State including last year's three-game sweep. Concordia has won 10 in a row at home against Bemidji State and hasn't dropped a home game against BSU since 2012 when the Beavers won three of four at Barnes Field. 

PROJECTED PITCHING MATCHUPS
CSP
Ollie Yuhas, LHP: 4-4, 6.70 ERA, 1.67 WHIP, 10 app/10 gs, 49.2 IP, 26-21 BB-SO, .310 oav
Tyus Smith, RHP: 2-3, 4.91 ERA, 1.41 WHIP, 11 app/5 gs, 40.1 IP, 24-11 SO-BB, .289 oav
Caden Carsen, RHP: 2-3, 5.88 ERA, 1.66 WHIP, 15 app/2 gs, 33.2 IP, 26-20 SO-BB, .275 oav

BSU
Castle Huggard, RHP: 1-4, 10.59 ERA, 2.39 WHIP, 12 app/4 gs, 26.1 IP, 22-21 SO-BB, .365 oav
Andrew Murphy, RHP: 0-3, 7.78 ERA, 1.88 WHIP, 13 app/2 gs, 39.1 IP, 31-19 SO-BB, .337 oav
Jack Barnett, RHP: 1-3, 8.37 ERA, 2.24 WHIP, 13 app/2 gs, 23.2 IP, 19-15 SO-BB, .352 oav

CSP BULLPEN NOTES
Cole Newell continues to anchor the Golden Bear bullpen with a 2.08 ERA and a 1.19 WHIP with a team-high 14 relief appearances. He's registered 34 strikeouts in 30.1 innings, allowing just 18 hits and a .167 opponent average while working to a 3-0 record with two saves. He's had eight 2.0-inning appearances and is coming off of a season-high 5.0 inning performance at UMary last weekend, allowing a run on five hits with four strikeouts against the Marauders. 

With Caden Carsen's 13 relief appearances recently shifting to a pair of spot-starts down the stretch this season, Liam Bystol and Justin Benjamin have matched Carsen with 13 relief appearances each. Benjamin has a win and four saves, striking out 19 in 14.2 innings while limiting hitters to a .228 average with a 5.52 ERA. Bystol holds a 4.87 ERA in 20.1 innings with a save.

NSIC LEADERS (NCAA)
Team
2nd - walks, 237
2nd - shutouts, 3 (36th)
4th - doubles, 82
5th - triples, 11
5th - double plays, 30
5th - sacrifice flies, 25

Individual
1st - Kaden Johnson, 4 triples (42nd)
1st - Eric Berg, 7 sacrifice flies (7th)
2nd - Eric Berg, 16 doubles
2nd - Charlie Harms, 38 walks
2nd - Eric Berg, 17 HBP (45th)
3rd - Kaden Johnson, 56 runs
4th - Justin Benjamin, 4 saves
4th - Eli Nelson, 7 sacrifice bunts (51st)
5th - Gus Berger, 50 RBIs
7th - Gus Berger, 3 triples
7th - Nick Carlson, 35 walks (0.9/game, 36th)
8th - Gus Berger & Charlie Harms, 14 doubles

IN THE CSP RECORD BOOKS
Season
2nd - Charlie Harms, 38 BB
2nd - Eric Berg, 17 HBP
2nd - Eric Berg, 7 SF
2nd - Charlie Harms, 351 putouts
3rd - Gus Berger, 5 SF
4th - Kaden Johnson, 4 3B
5th - Cole Newell, 2.08 ERA
5th - Kaden Johnson, 56 runs
5th - Eli Nelson, 7 sac bunts
6th - Evan Newlander, 11.72 K/9
6th - Charlie Harms, 27 DPs
7th - Cole Newell, .164 oav
7th - Kaden Johnson, 16 SB
8th - Nick Carlson, 35 BB
9th - Justin Benjamin, 4 saves
10th - Caden Carsen, 15 appearances
10th - Eli Nelson, 10 CS
11th - Eric Berg, 16 2B
12th - Gus Berger, 50 RBIs
12th - Gus Berger, 3 3B
12th - Gus Berger, 30 BB
13th - Kaden Johnson, 174 AB
14th - Ollie Yuhas, 10 GS
15th - Will Husemann, 10 HBP
16th - Justin Benjamin, 8 games finished
18th - Kaden Johnson, 27 BB
19th - Cole Newell, 14 appearances
20th - Gus Berger & Charlie Harms, 14 2B
20th - Kaden Johnson, 9 HBP
20th - Cole Newell, 10.09 K/9

Career
1st - Eric Berg, 11 SF
5th - Eric Berg, 27 HBP
7th - Charlie Harms, 675 putouts
9th - Kaden Johnson, 26 SB
9th - Charlie Harms, 54 DPs
10th - Charlie Harms, 66 walks
11th - Will Husemann, 20 HBP
11th - Charlie Harms, .990 fielding pct
12th - Justin Benjamin 4 saves
12th - Eli Nelson, 13 CS
17th - Kaden Johnson, 4 triples
18th - Gus Berger, .583 slugging pct
18th - Jack Setterlund, 8 sac bunts
19th - Will Husemann, 164 assists
20th - Caden Carsen, 13 games finished