No Help In Sweep At Macalester

ST. PAUL, Minn. (5/07/18)---Concordia did their part to try and earn a spot in the MIAC playoffs. Unfortunately the Cobbers didn't get any help and fell one-game shy of the conference postseason.

Concordia used a pair of big innings and swept Macalester 3-1 and 10-8 but were done in by Gustavus' second game win at St. Thomas which jumped them ahead of the Cobbers and into the league tournament.

The Cobbers scored all their runs on the day in two innings. CC posted three runs in the fourth inning of Game 1 and then used a 10-spot in the third inning of Game 2 to earn their second conference sweep of the season.

Concordia finishes the MIAC regular season with a 10-10 league mark. The Cobbers, who won for the third straight game, are 17-18 headed into their final game of the 2018 season. Macalester has their 2-game win streak come to an end and will enter the MIAC playoffs as the No.5 seed. The Scots are 21-16 in all games and 11-9 in MIAC play.

The Cobbers got all their offense in the fourth inning of the opener and then used the strong pitching of Alex Erickson to earn the 3-1 win.

Concordia had four hits in the first game and three came in the fourth frame. Chad Johnson led off with a triple and then scored on a sacrifice fly from Nate Hoeft. Nate Leintz then knocked a 2-out double to left field which plated Turner Storm. The final run scored when Eric Watt was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded and Alec Sames came home to score.

Erickson allowed just four hits in the first five innings of play before giving up a leadoff home run in the sixth. He then retired four of the next five batters he faced before giving way to Zack Nelson who picked up his second save of the year by finishing off the final two Macalester hitters.

Erickson's final stat total was: 6.1 innings pitched, 7 hits allowed and 3 strikeouts. He held the Scots hitless in their six at-bats with runners in scoring position.

The second game was determined in the third frame when the Cobbers sent 15 hitters to the plate, recorded all seven of their hits in the game and scored 10 runs.

The biggest hit of the 10-run inning came from Storm when he came through with a two-run single. The lone extra base hit was put up by Sean McGuire who drove home a run on a double to left field.

Storm was the only Cobber with more than one hit in the game. He went 2-for-2 with three RBI.

Cole Christensen got the start on the hill for CC and went the first 4.1 innings. He worked out of a jam in the second inning by striking out back-to-back hitters. Christensen was credited with his team-leading fourth win of the year.

Concordia used three more pitchers in the game. Nelson allowed a hit in 0.1 innings of work. He was followed by Colin Richards and Adam Nibaur. Nibaur closed out the contest to record his first collegiate save.

STELLAR SENIORS: Three seniors led by example in their quest for the playoffs. Chad Johnson, Nate Leintz and Turner Storm were the only Cobber players to have hits in both games. The trio combined for seven of the team's 11 hits on the day.   

AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME: Cobber seniors Chad Johnson and Turner Storm both have 115 career hits as they enter the final game of their collegiate careers. The 115 career hits have them tied for 19th on the school's all-time hit list.

AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME 2: Storm and Johnson are both at the top of the Cobber hit list this year. Storm leads CC with a .308 average and 37 hits while Johnson is second with a .299 average and 35 hits.

AND DOWN THE STRETCH THEY COME 3: Storm and Johnson both extended their hitting streaks on Tuesday. Both players now have 4-game hitting streaks. Storm's multiple-hit and multiple-RBI game in the finale give him the team lead in each stat category. Storm has 10 multiple-hit games this year and six multiple-RBI contests.

NOT PENSIVE PENSKE: Mason Penske had a pair of walks in Game 1 and one more in Game 2 to extend his on-base streak to a team-best nine games. Penske is third on the team in average this year with a .297 mark.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will finish off the 2018 season when they play at North Dakota State on Tuesday, May 7 at 6:30 p.m. The Bison are 18-22 on the year and have lost three straight.