ST. PAUL, Minn. (4/23/16)--- It took Concordia junior pitcher Abigail Haraldson one batter to become the new single-season strikeout queen. Haraldson fanned the first hitter she faced in the second game of the Cobbers' doubleheader at St. Catherine to record her record-setting 153rd strikeout of the season.
Haraldson wound up fanning six hitters in the finale as the Cobbers lost 1-0 to the nationally-ranked Wildcats and now has 158 K's for the season.
Concordia lost 10-2 in the opener and is now 15-15 in all games and 2-10 in the MIAC. No.17-ranked St. Catherine wins for the seventh time in the last eight games and is now 25-4 overall and 12-4 in league.
Haraldson entered the day tied with Kesley Jones at 152 K's. Jones set the school's single-season strikeout mark back in 2009. Haraldson sat out the opener but then reached back and struck out two of the first three batters of Game 2 which made her the all-time single-season K queen.
Haraldson retired the first six batters she faced in the game and then got out of a first-and-third jam with only one out in the third inning.
She then sent the Wildcats down in order in the fourth before SCU scored the game-winning run with two outs in the fifth inning.
Concordia's only hit in Game 2 came in the very first at-bat when Madison Little singled. She would reach third base with two outs but then be stranded after a strikeout.
Haraldson pitched a complete game in the finale. She allowed only five hits, struck out six and walked only one batter.
A seven-run third inning proved to be the difference in the first game. The Wildcats scored seven times on eight hits to take a 7-0 lead.
The Cobbers would cut the lead to 7-2 in the top of the fourth when freshman Sydney Roberts connected on her team-leading fourth home run of the season.
Concordia had three hits in the first game. Roberts, Mackenzie McCloud and Mackenzie Jensen all had one hit each for CC.
Kali Covert and Mariah Prokott combined for the five innings in the opener. Covert went the first 3.0 innings and then Prokott pitched the fourth and fifth frames.
A PRETTY GOOD YEAR
Abby Haraldson has had a breakout season in her junior year. Last year she fanned 98 batters, won six games, had an ERA of 3.44 and batters hit .290 against her. This year she has set the school record for strikeouts at 158, earned 10 wins, has an ERA of 3.12 and hitters only have a .225 average against her. She has put up career numbers in every single statistical category.
POWER, POWER POWER
Freshman Sydney Roberts has supplied the power for the Cobber offense this season. Concordia has five HR's this year and Roberts has four of them. She also leads the team in slugging percentage (.576) and RBI (18). Roberts is tied for sixth in the MIAC in home runs and is ninth in slugging percentage. The last CC player to have at least four long balls in a season was assistant coach Kaia Sele who had five back in 2013. Sele is tied for the single-season home run mark with six. She had six long balls in 2012 and 2011. She is tied with Heidi Mueller who had six in 1998 and 1999 and Allison Haaland who had six in 1999.
WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia is scheduled to host Hamline on Sunday, Apr. 24 at 1 p.m. but the games might be changed due to rain in the forecast. After the Hamline doubleheader, the next regularly-scheduled games for CC are on Tuesday, Apr. 26 at 3:30 p.m. against Gustavus.
