Offensive Split At Augsburg Sets Up Last Week Drama

MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (4/25/15)—The Cobber Crush Crew continued to post impressive numbers in a split at Augsburg. Concordia put up 22 more hits, nine more extra-base hits and 18 more runs as they earned a 4-2 win in the opener and then dropped a football-like 15-14 decision in the nightcap.

The split with the Auggies place Concordia in the middle of multiple-team playoff race in the MIAC. The Cobbers are now 8-6 in conference play and tied for fourth place in the conference standings. CC is now 21-9 overall and one of four conference teams with 20 victories on the year.

Augsburg is now 16-16 in all games and 6-8 in MIAC play.    

The Cobbers' No.2 through No.7 hitters had 19 of the team's 22 hits on the day. Senior first baseman Nick Bornhauser continues to be the unlikely leader of Concordia's offense which leads the nation in slugging percentage. Bornhauser was 3-for-8 on the day with three RBI, two runs scored and his fifth home run of the year. All five of Bornhauser's long balls have come against conference opponents and he now leads the MIAC in homers in league games. All this after Bornhauser hit .167 and had two extra-base hits in all of last year.

Aaron Green, who transferred to Concordia this season, has been another welcome addition to the CC offense. Green hammered his team-leading seventh home run of the year and went 4-for-9 with four RBI. He hit a grand slam homer in the seventh inning of game 2.

While the offense grabs the headlines, the pitching staff continues to come up with solid individual performances. Billy Jacobson posted his second straight quality start and earned his fourth win of the year in the opener. Jacobson pitched the first 6.0 innings and allowed only four hits and one earned run. He struck out a pair of batters and retired 11 of the final 13 batters he faced.

Jacobson is 2-0 in his last two starts and has given up just two earned runs and 11 hits in 11.0 innings of work. He is now 4-1 on the year and leads all starters with a 3.41 ERA.

Bryce Feia pitched the seventh inning and recorded his ninth save of the season. His nine saves ties a single-season record for Concordia. Derek Dormanen also had nine saves in 2003.

The Cobbers won the opener in the first inning when they scored three runs on four hits. The big hit was a two-run double to left field off the bat of Eric Carlsen.

The second game would have been more at home in the fall on the football field than in the spring on the diamond. Both teams scored in at least five innings and combined for 29 hits and 29 runs.

The Auggies had multiple-run frames in the second fourth and fifth while the Cobbers scored more than one run in the third, fourth, seventh and eighth.

Concordia tied the game at 14-14 in the top of the eighth when Jordan Domine doubled home Bornhauser and Cody Rahman.

Unfortunately Augsburg was able to come up with an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth to get the victory.

Bornhauser now has 16 doubles, 40 RBI and 80 total bases on the year. His double total is tied for the single-season record while his RBI total is four short of the record and he needs 19 more bases to tie head coach Chris Coste for the total base mark.

Concordia will finish off the regular season with four big conference games at home. The Cobbers will host St. Mary's on Tuesday, Apr. 28 at 1 p.m. and then Carleton on Saturday, May 2 at 1 p.m. The Cardinals are one game ahead of the Cobbers in the MIAC standings while the Knights are one game behind CC.