By: by Josh Deer

ST. CLOUD, Minn. - Fifth-seeded Concordia-St. Paul (29-13) freshman right handed starting pitcher Gus Varland turned in his best career start against arguably the best hitting team in the country on Friday afternoon to help the Golden Bears defeat NSIC regular season champion, top seed and #29 ranked Minnesota Duluth (37-13) 10-1 in the NSIC Tournament at Joe Faber Field.

Varland entered postseason hot, turning in his best start of the year on May 1 against Sioux Falls when he struck out nine and scattered five singles and a walk in 7.0 shutout innings against a team that reached the NSIC Tournament.

On Friday, he faced a UMD lineup that entered play ranked second in the country in average, on base percentage, slugging percentage, home runs per game and fifth in scoring. The lineup features three of the top seven hitters in the country in batting average including arguably the best hitter in the country, Alex Wojciechowski. He entered the game leading the country in home runs (32), runs, RBI (94) and slugging while ranking third in the country in average and seventh in on base percentage.

Varland ran into trouble in the first inning, as second hitter Grant Farley hit a double and scored on a sacrifice fly, but limited the damage to just a run.

Concordia claimed the lead with a three run second inning as Carter Schmidt led off with a double off the fence in center before Adam Hildebrandt was hit by a pitch. A sacrifice bunt by Jake Steckler allowed Andrew Shotwell to drive in a pair with a single through the left side.

In the third, Concordia blew the game open as the bottom of the lineup set the table, with Schmidt drawing a one walk before Steckler and Shotwell walked with two outs.

Sophomore Connor Olson changed the game with one swing, hitting a grand slam to left center for a 7-1 lead. It was Olson's 15th home run of the year. He went 4-5 with a pair of doubles (17) to lead Concordia's charge.

Once Varland figured out the Bulldogs in the first inning, he was nearly unhittable. He retired the side in order in the second and third innings, and pitched around a leadoff walk to A.Wojciechowski in the fourth, stranding him on third base. In the fifth, he surrendered a leadoff double but once again forced UMD to leave the runner 90 feet from home.

After the fifth inning leadoff double, Varland proceeded to retire 10-straight Bulldogs, chewing through the middle of their lineup. The streak carried into the eighth inning when he struck out the leadoff batter before a pair of singles by the 9-1 hitters gave UMD late life.

With the score still 7-1, the Bulldogs had the best part of the country's top lineup coming to the plate.

After a mound visit from associate head coach Marcus McKenzie, Varland induced an inning ending double play to end the threat, leaving A.Wojciechowski in the on-deck circle.

A three run eighth inning by Concordia gave him even more support, and Varland entered the inning on just 85 pitches. After a two out single, Varland slammed the door on his second career complete game and second career win with a strikeout.

In Varland's outing, he scattered six UMD hits while keeping the powerful Bulldogs in the park. He struck out four and walked one on 105 pitches.

He held A.Wojciechowski to 1-3 hitting with an infield single and a walk, and the 2-5 hitters in UMD's lineup combined to hit 3-14 with a double play. UMD's only run came on a sacrifice fly in the first inning.

Austin Vaske took the loss for UMD, falling to 6-2 after allowing seven runs on eight hits with five walks in 5.0 innings.

Concordia has now won six in a row and is 11-2 in the last 13 games. The Golden Bears entered the tournament with a 1-7 record against its first two opponents, Minnesota State and Minnesota Duluth and have an 18-5 scoring margin in the two tournament wins.

After facing one of the top hitting teams in the country, Concordia will advance to face the team that holds the distinction of being arguably better than the Bulldogs offensively in tournament host and third seed #15 ranked St. Cloud State (40-8).

Concordia and SCSU split a regular season mid-week doubleheader at Faber Field with Concordia winning the first game 7-5 behind junior left hander Josh Lenz (7-1) who outdueled SCSU sophomore All-America left hander Sheldon Miks (7-2). In the second game, SCSU picked up the win behind Kevin Bolder (5-2) over Keanu Mendez (5-1). Of those four pitchers, only Bolder has pitched in the tournament, working the first three innings in SCSU's 17-3 win over Minnesota Crookston on Thursday.

The Huskies boast the nation's top-ranked team batting average (.369) and slugging percentage (.621) while ranking third in home runs (82), scoring (9.7), fourth in doubles (126) and sixth in on base percentage (.436).

The winner of the SCSU/Concordia game at noon tomorrow will play for the NSIC Championship on Sunday at noon. The loser of the SCSU/Concordia game will play again in an elimination game on Saturday at 7 p.m.

Through all eight teams' first two games in the tournament, Concordia ranks second in the field in hitting (.309) and scoring (18) and leads the tournament in earned run average (2.50) and defense (1.000). St. Cloud State (.434, 27 runs) is the only team performing better at the plate, having defeated Minnesota Crookston 17-3 and Augustana 10-3, recording a 3.00 team ERA while committing two errors (.974).