MINNETONKA, Minn. – Minot State University swept the day against Concordia-St. Paul behind another Tanner Alexander gem and a Michael Borst ninth inning grand slam.

The Beavers (10-3 overall) have won nine of their last 10. MSU took two from the Golden Bears winning 12-0 and 6-5 in Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference baseball Sunday at Veterans Field.

"The boys came out ready to play today," said MSU head coach Scott Eul. "Concordia's pitcher in game 1 threw a no hitter last week and our boys were excited for the challenge. It was fun to see us come out with urgency we did today."

In game 1 MSU took an early lead in the top of the second with an RBI single from Wyatt Schlosser scoring Celestino Rodriguez.

Alexander didn't need any more help after that going five scoreless allowing only one infield hit and striking out five CSP hitters.

Minot added a lot of insurance for Alexander scoring two in the third, one in the fourth, six in the fifth and two in the seventh. Brock Breshears and Dominic Selmi closed the game out on the mound to secure the shutout allowing only one hit.

"Tanner has been doing it all year for us," Eul said. "He had them tied up all day and could have finished it but our offense gave him some serious support and we were able to get some other guys some work in."

Jordan Schulz led the Beavers with four hits while Paul Vogelsang, Rodriguez and Schlosser collected two hits apiece. MSU tallied seven extra base hits and 14 total hits.

"We didn't get complacent on offense which was nice to see. We kept getting on base and were able to keep getting big hits," said Eul. "When we keep putting pressure on the defense with baserunners it gets mentally draining to pitch and we have done an awesome job at that."

In game 2 MSU jumped out to an early lead again on a Schulz double scoring Kyle Williamson.

Concordia answered back in the third with a run off a Connor Olson single scoring Hildebrandt. CSP took the lead in the sixth on two MSU miscues. The Golden Bears starting pitcher Kevin Woebke struck out 10 MSU hitters in eight innings of work and was looking to have a complete game-win but walked and hit the first two batters he faced in the ninth and that was it for him.

Justin Demary was hit by a pitch to load the bases for the Beavers. After getting the next two guys out, Schulz drew a walk to cut the lead to one which brought up clean-up hitter Borst. Borst fell behind 1-2 and then smacked his third grand slam of the year putting the Beavers up 6-3. Concordia didn't go away in the bottom of the ninth scoring two but Demary shut the door to record his first save of the year.

"It's almost funny how Borst just keeps getting up and producing in those situations," Eul said. "Woebke has us fooled for the big portion of the game. We stuck to our plan and were able to start getting runners on base which is a good thing for us. We put together some really nice at bats that last inning to take the lead."

Schulz led the Beavers at the plate with two hits while five others collected a hit in game 2.

"Pulling out a win late against a really good team is a good sign," Eul said. "Good teams don't panic and we have shown to keep our composure. Offensively our guys are feeding off our pitching performances and the same can be said for our pitchers."

The Beavers will look for the series win with a pair of games Monday to finish off a four-game set with CSP.

About Minot State
Minot State University is a member of the Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference (NSIC) and NCAA Division II offering 14 men's and women's varsity intercollegiate athletics programs. The NSIC is a premier NCAA DII, 16-member conference featuring teams in North Dakota, South Dakota, Minnesota, Nebraska and Iowa. The Beavers are the only public NCAA Division II institution in the state of North Dakota.