A Herd Of Walks & Strikeouts In Finale

STORY LINE: Concordia gave up nine runs in the first three innings but then outscored North Dakota State 2-1 in the final six frames and lost 10-2 in the final game of the 2019 season. The Cobbers used five different relief pitchers to hold the Bison to a single run and five hits in the last six innings of the game. Concordia and NDSU combined for 14 walks and 27 strikeouts in the game. 

RECORDS: Concordia finishes the year by going 3-2 in its last five games. The Cobbers end the 2019 campaign with a 15-22 overall record. NDSU runs its win streak to three games and improves to 16-21 for the season.

GAME RECAP: The Cobbers stumbled out of the gate at Neumann Field as walks and a pair of errors cost CC crucial runs. NDSU scored four times on three hits in the first then added a single run in the second before getting four more runs in the third on just one hit. The Bison walked three times and had another hitter hit by a pitch and all four base runners came around to score. Concordia got on the board in the fourth when Andy Gravdahl drew a walk and then came home on a wild pitch with the bases loaded and two outs. The second Cobber run came courtesy of Mason Penske whose single up the middle scored Gravdahl who coaxed a leadoff walk to start the inning.

Penske finished the game with two of the three Cobbers hits. He went 2-for-3 and drove in a run. Gravdahl went 0-for-1 but was on base three times as he came up with a trio of walks. Grant Toivonen recorded the only other hit for CC. He went 1-for-3 in his final game for Concordia.      

RELIEF IS ON THE WAY: Colin Richards, Kyle Knaeble, Tanner McBain, Drew Olsonawski and Mitchell Ziebarth combined to pitch the 5.0 innings and held NDSU to one run. McBain was the most efficient and logged the most innings. He went 2.0 innings, didn't allow a hit and struck out four. Richards also fanned four.  

CLUTCH HITTING COMPARISON: NDSU held the edge in the game in hitting with runners on base and runners in scoring position. The Bison hit .231 (6-for-26) with runners on base and had a .250 (4-for-16) average with runners in scoring position. By comparison the Cobbers had a .077 (1-for-13) mark with runners on base and hit .200 (1-for-5) with runners in scoring spots.

WALK THIS WAY AND ALSO BACK TO THE DUGOUT: Both teams drew walks and swung through pitches as the teams combined for 41 walks and strikeouts in the 9-inning game. The Cobbers and Bison had seven walks each in the game. The 14 bases on balls is the second most in a single game in 2019 for Concordia. CC and Penn St. Kensington combined for 23 walks on Mar. 6 in Florida. The Cobber staff combined for 13 strikeouts. The 13 Ks marks the third time in 2019 that the Cobber pitchers have fanned 13 batters in a game. NDSU hurlers came away with 14 strikeouts and the 27 combined Ks is the most in a single game this season.           

AND THE WINNERS ARE: Andy Gravdahl led the Cobbers in hitting in his first collegiate season. He hit .311 and had the most multiple-hit games (12). Gravdahl also had the longest hitting streak by any CC player for the year (9 games). He also led the team in stolen bases (11). Mason Penske finished on top for slugging percentage. He had a .472 mark and was second in average at .303. Penske also posted a team-best .848 OPS and had 11 doubles to lead the team. Brett Erickson had a team-best .388 on-base percentage. He hit .284 for the year and had a team-high three triples. Nate Hoeft came away with the RBI crown. He drove in 20 runs on the year and had seven multiple-RBI games.