ST. PAUL, Minn. –
Jason Shaul ripped a career-high five hits and the University of Mary held off a late rally by Northern-Sun leading Concordia St. Paul to edge the Golden Bears 6-5 in the nightcap to gain a doubleheader split. The Marauders suffered a heart-wrenching 1-0 loss in the opener.
One of the nation's leading hitters, Shaul had a hand in each of the Marauders first five runs in game two. He was 5-for-5 with two doubles, a run scored and three runs batted in.
Just as the first game was a pitches duel, the second contest started the same way. With
Jake Johnson on the hill for U-Mary - the nation's leader in fewest hits allowed per nine innings and WHIP - facing Gus Varland, neither team scored a run in the first three innings.
Leading off the fourth inning, Shaul doubled to left center and moved to third on a ground out.
Drew Feuerbach followed with a one-out single up the middle to score Shaul with the Marauders first run – and lead - of the day. U-Mary nearly doubled its lead when
Clay Bassingthwaite doubled down the left field line but Feuerbach was narrowly thrown out at home.
Seth Meide singled up the middle to start the fifth inning and
Tom Imholte doubled to place both runners in scoring position with Shaul at the plate. For the second straight inning, the New Ulm, Minn., native doubled to left center, plating both Meide and Imholte for a 3-0 lead.
The Golden Bears finally managed to score runs off Johnson in the sixth. After striking out the first two hitters of the inning, a walk started a 3-run outburst for CSP. A Tanner Holmquist single scored the first run and a 2-run double by Ryan Poppitz tied the game 3-3.
Wasting no time recapturing the lead, back-to-back run scoring singles by Shaul and
Will Pettener in the seventh inning scored
Andrew Beyer and Imholte to extend the lead to 5-3.
Refusing to go away, the Golden Bears scored a single run in the seventh when Connor Olson homered to left off Johnson. The Marauders manufactured a two-out rally in the top of the eighth to regain a two-run lead at 6-4. Meide singled with two outs, moved to second on a wild pitch and scored on Beyer's opposite field single down the left field line.
A team that has rallied from deficits to win eight games this season, Concordia-St. Paul continued to apply pressure in the bottom of the eighth as a two-out run-scoring single by Alex LaPorte again brought the Golden Bears within 6-5. Facing his final batter of the night, Johnson struck out pinch hitter Tom Austin to end the rally. It was Johnson's seventh strikeout of the game.
Despite a leadoff single by Shaul in the ninth, the Marauders were unable to extend their lead and turned the game over to righthanded
Ryo Takenaka. The sophomore, who combined with Johnson on a no-hitter earlier in the season, quickly recorded two outs before walking Olson. After a wild pitch moved Olson into scoring position at second, Eric Fasnacht lined the ball to shortstop
Mason Schiff for the last out of the game.
The victory snapped a 20-game win streak by the Golden Bears against the Marauders. U-Mary had last defeated CSP in April 2008.
Led by Shaul, the Marauders pounded out a season-high 15 hits. Meide was 3-for-4 with two runs scored. Imholte finished 2-for-5 with two runs scored and a double. Feuerbach went 2-for-4 with an RBI.
Johnson improved to 2-0 this season. In eight innings of work he game up nine hits and two walks while striking out seven. Takenaka earned his first save with a scoreless ninth inning.
LaPorte, Fasnacht and Ben Suits all had two hits for CSP and Poppits posted two RBIs.
The opener was all about the pitchers as both U-Mary's
McKeon Meyhoff and CSP's Zach Rengel threw complete games.
Neither team could generate much offense. After
Brad Meyer singled with two outs in the first inning, the Marauders only other hit in the first five innings was a two-out double by Imholte in the third inning.
Meyhoff was just as dominant. After walking the leadoff hitter to open the game – who was subsequently eliminated on a 6-4-3 double play – the Golden Bears didn't have another baserunner until Holmquist singled with two outs in the fourth.
Looking to open the scoring, the Marauders started the sixth with a bunt single by Imholte and an infield single by Shaul. The rally disintegrated when Imholte was picked off attempting to steal third and Shaul was left at second after back-to-back groundouts to end the inning.
In similar fashion to the Marauders, the first two hitters for the Golden Bears in the bottom of the sixth also reached base. Meyhoff and the Marauders nearly extracted themselves from a difficult situation but an error with two outs allowed Issac Horman to score from third with the only run of the game.
Down to the final inning and last at bat, pinch hitter
Trenten Hove walked with one out in the seventh. After a strikeout, Hove was thrown out attempting to steal second for the final out of the game.
Imholte was 2-for-3, the lone player in the opener with multiple hits.
Meyhoff allowed just four hits, one walk and one unearned run in six innings. He struck out four while tossing his second straight complete game.
Rengel claimed the win with nearly identical numbers to Meyhoff, allowing four hits and one walk with four strikeouts in seven innings.
U-Mary is 4-13 overall and 2-3 in the NSIC. CSP, ranked sixth in the regional poll, is 12-3 and 5-1.
The Marauders and the Golden Bears close out the four game series on Monday, April 4. First pitch is set for noon.
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