Improvement Shown IN DH Against St. Mary's

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/21/24)---Concordia played its best doubleheader of the season and pushed MIAC Top 3 opponent St. Mary's to the wire in both games. The Cobbers had the game-tying run at the plate in the seventh inning of both contests but were edged 2-1 and 5-3.

Concordia was able to belt out two home runs and 12 hits in the two games. CC also played stellar defense and got quality pitching from Lauren Staples, Mallory Leitner, Karissa Finnigan and Lexi Burke as they held the Cardinals to the fewest runs scored by a CC opponent in conference play all season.

Game 1: Concordia 1, St. Mary's 2
Staples posted her best outing of the year as she kept the Cardinals off balance for the first 4.1 innings of the opener. She only allowed a pair of single-run innings and conceded five hits in the start. Leitner finished off the final 2.2 frame, didn't give up a run and only had three base hits against her.

The Cobbers got their lone run in the game when freshman infielder Jocelyn Maki cranked out her second homer of the season to tie the game at 1-1 in the bottom of the fourth inning.

St. Mary's (24-8, 12-4 MIAC) scored the game-winning run in the top of the fifth frame. CC's best opportunity to tie the game came in the sixth inning when Emma Bowman led off the frame with a single up the middle.

Maki, Bowman and Kailee Falconer had the hits in the opener as the Cobbers were outhit 8-3.

Game 2: Concordia 3, St. Mary's 5
All the drama in the second game showed up in the seventh inning. The Cardinals took a 4-1 lead through the first six innings. They posted 2-run frames in the first and fifth to grab the 3-run lead.

Concordia's opening run in Game 2 came in the third when they were able to back-to-back-to-back hits with two outs. Falconer started the rally with a single and came home on a double off the bat of Bowman.

St. Mary's extended the lead to four runs with a single score in the top of the seventh and most fans thought the game was over. The never-say-die Cobbers had other ideas as they fought their way back into the game.

Jillian Martinez started the inning with a 1-out solid single to center field. Falconer followed with a home run to center field that brought the score to 5-3. The long ball was Falconer's second of the weekend.

Leitner extended the game with a 2-out single to center field which brought the tying run to the plate, but CC was unable to do any more damage and fell 5-3.

Falconer was 3-for-4 in Game 2 with two RBI and a pair of runs scored. Bowman had the other multi-hit contest. She was 2-for-4 with an RBI.

Karissa Finnigan, Lexi Burke, Leitner and Martinez had the other base knocks for CC.

Finnigan started the game in the circle and went 4.2 innings. Burke followed with the next 1.2 frames and Leitner finished off the game for the second time on the day.

UP NEXT: Concordia will travel to Duluth to play St. Scholastica on Tuesday, Apr. 23 at 3:30 p.m.