Down To A Two-Game MIAC Schedule

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/30/12)—Concordia's MIAC playoff hopes have dwindled down to a two-game schedule after the Cobbers' 9-5, 16-2 losses to No.4 ranked St. Thomas on Monday.
  
Concordia was unable to hold on to their third-place standing heading into the day and is now locked in a group of five teams with .500 records that are all tied by percentage points for third place in the MIAC. Only the top four teams make the conference tournament. The Cobbers are now 9-9 in league play and 18-18 in all games.

Concordia never led in their two games with the nationally-ranked Tommies. The Cobbers fell behind in the first inning of both games and never were able to catch up. CC allowed three runs in the very first inning of the opener. Concordia trailed 6-1 in the first game before staging their biggest rally of the day when they scored four times to cut the margin to 6-5. In the four-run third, the Cobbers had four hits and were aided by a home run to left field by Brad Olson which scored a pair of runs. Concordia also had a pair of runners thrown out on the base paths in the inning.

St. Thomas then added a single run in the fourth frame and two insurance runs in the seventh to bring the final tally to 9-5. The Cobbers did not have a hit in the final four innings of play.

The Tommies (30-4/18-0 MIAC) outhit CC 14-16 in the opener. The Cobbers had six batters with one hit in the game. Olson finished with the lone home run and two RBI while catcher Jan-Erik Lindberg also hit a long ball and had one hit in the game.

The second game was all St. Thomas as they scored two runs in the first inning and then scored at least one run in the final five frames of the game. The biggest offensive production came in the third, fourth and seventh innings when they accounted for 12 of their 16 total runs.

Concordia was able to come up with two runs in the final inning of the day. Jordan Gefroh doubled home Justin Johnson and then came around to score on a ground ball to second base off the bat of Tom Kutz. The Cobbers had five hits in the second game. Lindberg went 2-for-2 in the nightcap and was 3-for-6 on the day.

Concordia will now play at Bethel on Saturday, May 5 at 1 p.m. Both the Cobbers and Royals are tied in league play with .500 record.  BU is 8-8 and will host Carleton on Wednesday before the regular-season ending showdown with the Cobbers.