Ver Steeg Goes Full "Ohtani" In Win

AUBURNDALE, Fla. (2/28/18)---Sophomore Austin Ver Steeg did his best Shohei Ohtani impersonation on Tuesday in Florida as he led the Cobbers on the mound and at the plate and was the driving force behind the team's 9-4 win over Rose-Hulman.

Ver Steeg is the Cobbers' answer to Ohntani who signed a multi-million dollar deal with the Los Angeles Angels after starring in Japan as a pitcher and as a hitter. Ver Steeg pitched the first six innings against Rose-Hulman and only allowed two hits and one earned run while striking out eight. He also went 2-for-3 at the plate and drove in three runs.

Ver Steeg's overall ability helped Concordia post its first win of the spring break trip as the Cobbers improved to 1-3 on the year. The Fightin' Engineers are now 0-4 this season.

Concordia gave Ver Steeg all the runs he would need in the second and third innings as they jumped out to a 6-0 lead. CC scored three runs in both innings and had three hits in both frames. The Cobbers were helped by a pair of errors in the second inning to open the scoring and start the game with a 3-0 lead.

The Cobbers then added a single run in the fourth inning on a Nate Leintz single which brought home Nate Hoeft.             

Concordia then put the game out of reach in the bottom of the eighth after Rose-Hulman had cut the lead to 7-4. Hoeft singled home Ver Steeg for the first run in the inning and then a Turner Storm walk with the bases loaded brought home Brett Swanson.

Concordia outhit the Fightin' Engineers 12-5 in the game. All 17 hits in the game were singles.

The Cobbers had five players with two hits each in the nine-inning game. Besides Ver Steeg, Hoeft, Leintz, Storm and Grant Toivonen all collected a pair of singles in the contest.

Adam Nibaur, Tanner McBain and Zack Nelson each pitched a single inning in relief of Ver Steeg. McBain and Nelson closed the game out by not allowing a hit in the final two innings and struck out five of the six batters they faced.

LET THERE BE LEINTZ: Nate Leintz has been tearing the cover off the baseball in the team's first four games of the season. He has multiple hits in all four games and owns a team-best .625 batting average. He also leads the team in RBI with seven and has the lone home run of the year.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will continue wither their Florida schedule by playing Capital (Ohio) on Thursday, Mar. 1 at 9 a.m. Capital is 3-2 on the season and beat Rose-Hulman 9-8 on Monday.