Offense Comes Alive In Losses To St. Mary's

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/17/13)—After not playing for 25 days, Concordia played their second conference doubleheader in less than 24 hours and lost a pair to St. Mary's. The Cobbers saw their offense come to life in the 9-4 and 8-6 losses to the second-place Cardinals in a doubleheader played at the Vadnais Heights Dome in St. Paul.

Concordia (4-11/1-3 MIAC) pounded out 15 hits on the day and was led by Ashley Tibbetts and Joelle Link who combined to record seven hits. Tibbetts was 4-for-6 on the day and drove in one run and scored one run while Link went 3-for-6 and drove in four runs.

The Cobbers' undoing on the day was their inability to keep St. Mary's from putting up crooked numbers in selected innings. The Cardinals scored at least three runs in three different innings and recorded two or more runs in six frames.

Concordia fell behind early in the opener as St. Mary's scored three times in the first inning and then three more in the third. The Cobbers scored all four of their runs in the first game in the fifth inning. CC collected three of their six hits in the game in the inning and also left two runners on base. The two biggest hits of the four-run fifth were turned in by Mackenzie Jensen and Link. Jensen singles home Tibbetts for the first Cobber run of the game and then Link knocked a two-run base knock through the left side that plated Heather Jonasson and Kelly Tasky.

Tibbetts doubled to right-center field to lead off the sixth inning but that would be the final hit of the opener as St. Mary's starting pitcher Kayla Peterson proceeded to the retire the next six CC hitters in the game.

The second game was deadlocked at 0-0 all the way until the fourth inning when the Cardinals scored eight times in three innings.

St. Mary's (15-6/8-2 MIAC) scored twice in the fourth, added four more in the fifth and then finished off their scoring barrage with two more in the sixth.

Concordia started their six-run attack in the sixth frame when they scored four times. The Cobbers then got to within 8-6 in the bottom of the seventh before a CC runner was thrown out at the plate trying to score from first on a double after Concordia had loaded the bases with two outs.

Becca Conant had the two-run double in the seventh to score both runs. Link, Tibbetts and Kaia Sele came up with run-scoring doubles in the sixth inning. Link plated two on a double to right field while Tibbetts drove in a lone run with a double to right center and Sele plated Tasky with a two-bagger to left center.

Jonasson had a pair of hits in the nightcap and now leads the team with a .333 average. Conant, Tasky and Sele also maintained their above-.300 averages on the season. Sele reached base in both games and has now reached safely in 13 straight games in a stretch that dates back all the way to CC's third game of the year on Mar. 2. Tasky was 2-for-2 in the second game and now has a team-leading four multiple-hit games on the year.

Concordia will hopefully continue with its conference schedule on Saturday, Apr. 20 when they play at league-leading St. Thomas at 1 p.m. The Cobbers are then scheduled to play at Gustavus on Sunday, Apr. 21 at 10 a.m. Fans can check out the gocobbers.com website for all the latest schedule changes due to the sporadic spring weather.