The Hits Keep Coming

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (4/11/17)--- The hits just kept coming for Concordia. The Cobbers used the momentum from their second-game, 17-hit win over St. Thomas on Saturday and swept St. Olaf 11-6 and 8-4.

The Cobbers pounded out 17 hits in the first game and nine more in the nightcap as they ran their win streak to three games and evened their conference record at 4-4. Concordia is now 13-11 overall. St. Olaf, who had won three straight entering the day and were coming off a sweep over Bethel, fall to 2-4 in the MIAC and 9-12 overall.

Concordia never trailed in the two games. They used a pair of four-run innings early in both games to jump to a lead and never looked back. The Cobbers scored four times in the second inning of the opener and then extended the lead to 9-2 in the fifth frame. In Game 2, Concordia jumped on the board for four runs in the opening inning and then got three insurance runs in the seventh and ninth innings.

Of the 26 hits on the day for the Cobbers, 20 were singles. Concordia had six doubles in the first game and then all nine hits in the finale were of the one-base variety.

The Cobbers scored their four runs in the second inning of Game 1 when they knocked out four hits and were helped out by three Ole errors.

All nine Cobber starting batters had at least one hit in the first game. Sophomore Grant Toivonen and junior Turner Storm both had three hits from the No.1 and No.2 spots in the batting order. Junior Nate Leintz was the third member of CC to post three hits in the opener. Joe Hallock and Nate Hoeft had two hits each as five Cobber players put up multiple-hit games.

Concordia used four different pitchers to get the win in the first game. Zack Nelson started the game, went 4.1 innings allowed only two earned runs and struck out five to record his third win of the year. Drew Olsonawski got the team out of a jam in the fifth and was then relieved by Alex Erickson on the sixth and Kyle Knaeble in the seventh. Erickson and Knaeble didn't allow an earned run or a hit and struck out a pair.

The Cobbers made sure that St. Olaf wouldn't get their feet wet in the second game. CC scored four runs on four hits and sent 10 men to the plate as they broke the nightcap open with the four-run first.

CC would tack on a single run in the fourth, two in the seventh and one more in the ninth to complete the sweep.

Concordia had six players collect hits in the game with Leintz, Alec Sames and Brett Swanson each having two base knocks.

Austin Ver Steeg got the start in Game 2 and scattered nine hits over 6.0 innings. He allowed three earned runs and struck out three. Like Nelson in the opener, Ver Steeg also collected his third win of the year. 

Cody Rahman bridged the gap between the starter and closer Hallock. Rahman hurled the seventh and eighth frames and gave up just one hit. Hallock pitched a scoreless ninth.

CODY MAVERICK: Not only did Cody Rahman pitch two scoreless innings on Tuesday but he also extended his hitting streak to 10 games as he collected one hit in each end of the double dip. The 10-game hit streak matches the longest of the year by a CC player. Graint Toivonen had his 10-game hit streak end in the second game at Olaf when he went 0-for-2.

WHAT'S NEXT: It will be a short turnaround for the Cobbers as they will host Valley City State in the penultimate non-conference home game of the year on Wednesday, Apr. 12 at 4 p.m. The Vikings are 15-19 on the year but are 7-1 in the month of April .