Cobbers Split At St. Scholastica

DULUTH, Minn. (4/10/23)---Concordia split their doubleheader at St. Scholastica in the middle DH of a 6-game road swing for the Cobbers.

Concordia scored at least one run in five of the seven innings in the opener to post a 7-4 victory over the Saints. CC then had their late-game rally fall one run short as they dropped the finale 7-6 after falling behind 7-0 after three innings.

The win and loss move the Cobbers record to 5-15 in all games on the season. Concordia is now 1-3 in league play. Scholastica moves to 11-9 overall and a similar 1-3 in the MIAC.

Concordia came through with a combined total of 17 hits in the two games. Both teams had nine base knocks in Game 1 and then then Saints held a slim 9-8 edge in hits in the nightcap.

Freshman Kate Gulbranson led the Cobber offense as she had multiple hits in both ends of the doubleheader. She was 2-for-4 with two runs scored in the opener and then went 2-for-4 with three RBI in Game 2. The four hits on day helped Gulbranson up her season average to .326.

Kate Wensloff and Drew Syverson had the other multiple-hit games for CC on the day. Wensloff was 2-for-2 with a pair of RBI in the first game and Syverson went 2-for-4 in the second game.

The Cobbers broke to a 4-0 lead in Game 1 after putting up 2-run innings in the second and fourth. Freshman Haleigh Lematta came through with a 2-run single in the second inning that scored Gulbranson and Reese Hauck, and then Syverson and Wensloff had RBI singles in the fourth.

The teams traded single runs in the fifth, sixth and seventh innings. The biggest hit in that stretch for Concordia came off the bat of Molly Wilde who cranked out her team-leading fourth home run of the season with one out in the seventh.

Karissa Finnigan went the distance in the circle in the opener. She allowed nine hits and four earned runs and struck out two.

Finnigan also came through at the plate. She was 1-for-4, and her fifth-inning double extended her hit streak to a team-best seven games.

Concordia dug a 7-run hole in the second game after allowing two runs in the first and five in the third. The Cobbers started their 6-run comeback by plating four in the fifth. They would add two more in the sixth but weren't able to come up with game-tying run.

Gulbranson, Hauck and Hailey Pangracs had RBI hits in the 4-run fifth, and Gulbranson followed with a 2-run single to left field in the sixth.

Mallory Leitner was the starting pitcher for CC in Game 2. She lasted 2.2 innings. Lauren Staples entered the game in the third frame and didn't allow a run in 3.1 innings. She gave up two hits and struck out two.

UP NEXT: Concordia will stay on the road to finish off their 6-game road trip. They will play at Bethel on Tuesday, Apr. 11 at 3:30 p.m.