ST. PAUL, Minn. (4/30/13)—Concordia was done in by three four-run innings and were swept by No.2-ranked St. Thomas 4-1, 10-1 in St. Paul on Tuesday. The Cobbers gave up runs in five innings against the Tommies but three of those resulted in a four-spot being put up on the board.
The pair of losses pushes Concordia's MIAC record to .500 at 5-5 for the year. The Cobbers are now in a tie for fifth place in the league standings. CC is 12-10 overall. St. Thomas wins for the 16th straight time and remains unbeaten in conference play. The Tommies are now 12-0 in the MIAC and 24-4 overall.
The crucial four-run inning in the opener came in the bottom of the third inning. St. Thomas plated four runs on four hits. The biggest hit of the inning was a two-out, three-run homer.
The Tommies were only able to muster up two other hits in the game off of Concordia starting pitcher Jackson Meland. Meland pitched his second complete game of the year and gave up only six hits, limiting UST to a .285 average for the game. St. Thomas entered the day hitting over .340 for the year.
The Cobbers had three hits in the first game and scored their only run in the fifth inning when freshman Devin Johnson hit his first collegiate home run. Johnson was one of three CC players with single hits in the game. Michael Olson had a double in the second inning and Erik Hiedeman added a lead-off double in the sixth.
St. Thomas started the second game by scoring four runs in the first inning and then added four more in the third. They came away with 10 runs on 10 hits in the game.
Cobber junior Shawn Krueger made his first appearance on the mound as he came on in relief in the fourth inning and pitched the final three innings. He allowed only one run and gave up just three hits.
Concordia had three hits in the nightcap as well. Johnson was 1-for-3 in game 2 and once again drove in the team's only run of the game. He had a two-single to right field that scored Braden Rahman . Johnson has now hit safely in nine consecutive games. Johnson currently leads the team in hitting. He has a .380 average and has a team-leading .676 slugging percentage.
Kyle Kraemer and Rahman had the other hits in the second game for the Cobbers.
Concordia will now have a three-day break for finals and return to the diamond when they host Carleton on Saturday, May 4 at 1 p.m.
