A Battle Of Multiple-Run Innings

STORY LINE: Concordia lost the battle of multiple-run innings and fell 10-4, 5-1 to St. Catherine. The Cobbers and Wildcats posted all their runs in the opener with multiple-run innings and then SCU used a 3-run fourth inning to pull away in the second game.

RECORDS: Concordia loses for the seventh straight game and drops to 8-18 in all games and 1-11 in the MIAC. St. Catherine remains in second place in the MIAC standings and ups their record to 9-2 in league games. The Wildcats are 19-8 in all games.

GAME 1 RECAP: The Cobbers started slow in the opener as they fell behind 5-0 after two innings. CC then rallied for a pair of runs in the bottom of the second. CC plated the two runs on two hits and was helped out by a pair of SCU errors. The big play in the inning came on a bunt dropped down by Brooke Swarthout. Swarthout was thrown out at first but the second baseman tried to throw behind the runner at second base and her errant toss went all the way to the left field fence which allowed Taylor Erholtz and Val Kolstad who had both reached base courtesy of singles. The Cobbers' other 2-run inning came in the sixth when they came up with a DH-best four hits. Nicole Johannes drove in the first run with a double to right-center field and then Erholtz singled through the left side to drive in Concordia's final run.

GAME 2 RECAP: Concordia wasn't able to carry over their 7-hit performance in Game 1 to the second game. CC only had three base knocks but were tied heading into the third frame. The Cobbers tied the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the first when Erholtz singled home Maria Pake. CC had the bases loaded after Erholtz' RBI base knock but was unable to add to the run total. The Cobbers had two of their three hits in the game in the first inning. St. Catherine was able to plate the game-deciding runs in the fourth when they plated three runners on four hits.

NEXT STOP 200: Sophomore Megan Gavin pitched 12.0 innings on the day and came away with 14 strikeouts. She now has 121 Ks on the season which is third best in the MIAC this season. Gavin upped her career strikeout total to 196 and needs four more Ks to reach the 200-strikeout plateau.

TAYLOR MADE: Cobber third baseman Taylor Erholtz was one of two Cobbers on the day to have a hit in each game. She 3-for-6 and drove in two of the Cobbers' five runs for the DH. Erholtz has now had at least one hit in four of the past five games and upped her season batting average to .275. Last year she hit .209 and only had one multiple-hit game.

MARIA MAKES HITS: Freshman Maria Pake was the other CC player to have at least one hit in each game. She went 2-for-6 and scored two runs. Pake has now hit safely in four straight games but has reached base in 11 straight games which is a team-best for the season. Pake continues to lead the Cobbers in hitting with a .405 average.             

UP NEXT: Concordia will have another away-home conference weekend. The Cobbers will play at St. Olaf on Friday, Apr. 19 and then return home to host league-leading St. Thomas on Saturday, Apr. 20.