ST. PETER, Minn. (4/22/15)—There was plenty of late-inning drama in Concordia's split at Gustavus. The Cobbers left five runners on base in a 6-5 loss in the opener and then allowed seven runs in the ninth to hold on to an 11-9 victory in the second game.
Concordia hammered out 25 hits in the two games as they remain in the race for the top spots in the MIAC. The Cobbers got six hits from senior first baseman Nick Bornhauser as they moved to 19-8 overall and 7-5 in the MIAC.
The Cobbers fell behind 4-1 in the bottom of the third in the opener. Devin Johnson's sacrifice fly in the top of the inning scored Andrew Deters to give CC a 1-0 lead.
Concordia then cut the lead to 4-2 in the top of the fourth before the Gusties scored two in the bottom of the fifth to capture a 6-2 lead. And that's when the drama started.
The Cobbers scored two runs in the sixth inning Eric Carlsen walked, Bornhauser hit one of his four doubles on the day, Tim Carlson singled to score Carlsen and then Jordan Domine doubled to plate Bornhauser. A walk by Deters loaded the bases with only one out but Concordia posted back-to-back strikeouts and left the inning trailing 6-4.
Concordia then rallied in the seventh as Carlsen was hit by a pitch and then Bornhauser doubled. Alex Sandahl had a pinch-hit single that scored Carlsen and the Cobbers trailed by only one run with runners on first and third. Sandahl stole second to take away the force play and put the go-ahead run at second. However, a ground out and then a pop out to second base ended the game.
Concordia outhit Gustavus 11-5 in the opener. Bornhauser was 3-for-4 while Carlson was 2-for-4.
Ross Merriman got the start and went the first 5.0 innings. He allowed three earned runs and five hits while striking out six. Nate Wendorf pitched the sixth frame and did not allow a hit.
The Cobbers made amends for the one-run loss in the second by scoring four runs in the third and then eventually taking a 11-2 lead in the top of the eighth. The nine-run lead held up until the bottom of the ninth. And that's when the drama started.
Gustavus scored seven runs in the ninth on seven hits and brought 12 batters to the plate. The Gusties cut the lead all the way down to 11-9 and had runners on first and second before Bryce Feia struck out the final batter of the game to earn his league-leading eighth save of the season.
Concordia followed up their 11-hit performance in game 1 with a 14-hit game in the nightcap. Bornhauser had another three-hit game. He was 3-for-5 with three RBI and two runs scored.
Carlsen had the biggest game for any Cobber in game 2. He went 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored. He was 5-for-7 on the day and has hit safely in 16 of the past 17 games. Carlsen is now hitting .508 for the season which leads the MIAC.
Kyle Connelly earned his fourth win of the season for the Cobbers. He pitched 6.1 innings, allowed just one earned run and six hits.
Feia came on to get the final out of the game and extended his scoreless streak to nine outings and now has a 2.30 ERA.
Concordia will stay on the road for a doubleheader at Augsburg on Saturday, Apr. 25 at 1 p.m. The Cobbers will then return home to finish off the regular season with a pair of home twinbills.
