200 K Club Has A New Member

STORY LINE: Sophomore pitcher Megan Gavin became the fifth player in program history to reach the 200 strikeout mark in her career as she fanned six batters in the opener at St. Olaf. Gavin's milestone wasn't enough for the Cobbers as they lost 7-3 and 10-1 in 5 innings to the Oles.     

RECORDS: Concordia continues to look for its second conference victory of the year and is now 8-20 overall and 1-13 in the MIAC. St. Olaf wins for the fourth straight game and the seventh time in the last eight contests. The Oles are 21-11 in all games and 11-5 in league play.

GAME 1 RECAP: Gavin entered Saturday needing four strikeouts to reach the 200 mark. She struck out a single batter in the first and second innings and then fanned the final two batters of the fourth inning to get to 200 career Ks. Gavin would strike out two more hitters in the fourth to bring her game total to six and her career tally to 202.

St. Olaf took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the first before the Cobbers cut the lead in half in the third when Kate Wensloff doubled to left field to bring home Caitlin Culleton who had walked earlier in the frame. The Oles would tack on three more runs in the bottom of the third and then two more in the fourth to take a 7-1 lead. CC was able to get two runs in the seventh on three hits. Maria Pake doubled home Culleton and then Taylor Erholtz doubled in Pake. St. Olaf held a slim 6-5 edge in hits in the opener.

GAME 2 RECAP: The Oles used a pair of multiple-run innings in the second game to break open a 1-1 tie game. The score was knotted at a run apiece after the Oles scored in the bottom of the first and then Culleton drove in the only Cobber run of the game on a hit up the middle. St. Olaf then finished the game off with six runs in the third and three more in the fourth. The Cobbers had seven hits in Game 2. CC had seven different players collect a hit each. Kelly Riordan and Cassie Bohnsack split the pitching duties in the finale. Riorda pitched the final two frames of game 1 and then threw the first three innings of Game 2.

QUICK TRIP TO 200: It took Megan Gavin 40 games to get to the 200 strikeout mark. She now has 202 Ks in 207.1 innings pitched. She has 127 strikeouts this season and is third in the MIAC – only one K out of second place. Gavin is currently fifth on the school's all-time strikeout list and should get into fourth place in the next few games.  

Cobber Career 200 Strikeout Club
1. Abby Haraldson (2014-18) – 441
2. Erin Gunderson (1999-02) – 371
3. Kesley Jones (2009-12) – 330
4. Hilary Rotunda (2013-15) – 210
5.  Megan Gavin (2018-19) – 202

SINGLE SEASON DOUBLES QUEEN: Maria Pake doubled to right center in Game 1 to record her 15th 2-bagger of the season which broke the school's single season doubles record. Pake bettered the mark of 14 set by Kaia Sele in 2012.

PAKE CONTINUES TO RAKE: Freshman shortstop Maria Pake continues to hit at the .400 level in her first collegiate season. She was one of three CC players who had a hit in both games on Saturday and has now had a hit in six straight games. Pake has hit safely in 23 of the 28 games she has played and leads the team with a .400 average. She is 13th in the MIAC in average this season.

CC STEPPING UP FOR CC: Freshman catcher Caitlin Culleton also had a hit in each game and has been steadily improving at the plate throughout the last two weeks. She had four hits in the month of March and already has six this month. Culleton has hit safely in five f the eight games she has played in April and is hitting .333 during that stretch.

MULTIPLE-HIT WENSLOFF: Kate Wensloff was the third CC player with hits in both games and she was the only Cobber with a multiple-hit game as she went 2-for-4 in Game 1. Wensloff has five multiple-hit games this year which is third on the team. She is hitting .303 for the year.

UP NEXT: Concordia will return home to host No.4ranked St. Thomas on Saturday, Apr. 20 at 1 p.m. The Tommies are 30-4 this season and 14-2 in MIAC play.