The Hits Just Kept Coming In Home Opener

The offensive explosion is just what the Cobbers were looking for as they entered the game having only put up 27 hits in their previous five games combined. Concordia entered the twinbill against the Cougars with a team batting average of .230. CC would finish the day with a .275 team average as they had at least one hit in all but two innings against Morris.

"It was nice to see us get some extra base hits," commented head coach Bucky Burgau. Burgau also stressed the importance of the CC regulars getting more at bats during the preseason to get ready for conference play. "All the regulars got seven or eight at bats today," said Burgau. "We hope that will help us along the way in conference games."

It took Concordia four innings to awaken their offense. The Cobbers scored a single run in the second inning of game 1 and were tied 1-1 heading into the bottom of the fourth. That's when CC took control of the doubleheader. Over the course of the next nine innings, the Cobbers scored at least two runs in all but two innings and had multiple-hit frames in all but one inning.

The Cobbers (7-7) scored a pair of runs in the fourth and fifth innings and then added four more in the sixth to put away the opener. Chris Gilson and Jan-Erik Lindberg both had three-hit games. Gilson was 3-for-3 with a pair of doubles and three runs scored. Lindberg went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs.

While the Concordia offense was slowly starting to boil over, sophomore Jackson Meland was keeping Morris off the base paths by mixing up his pitches. Meland started the game and went the first 5.0 innings. He did not allow a hit until the third inning and gave up hits in only two of the five innings of work. In addition to his command of the strike zone, Meland helped himself out by picking off a pair of Cougar baserunners. "Holy buckets, he just keeps picking guys off first," replied Burgau. Burgau was also impressed with Meland's ability to keep the Cougar hitters off balance, "he found the zone pretty good and had a good breaking pitch."

Concordia picked up at the start of the second game where they left off in game 1. The Cobbers scored three runs in the first inning which included a two-run homer down the right field line by Brian Guler. It was Guler's first collegiate home run and only the second homer by a Cobber player this season.

The hit parade continued in the third, fourth and fifth innings. Concordia knocked out 15 hits and plated 14 runs in the three middle innings. The 18 runs scored in the nightcap is the most by Concordia since CC beat Morris 20-6 at the start of last season.

Guler finished the nightcap by going 3-for-4 and drove in four runs. He was one of six CC hitters with at least two hits. Gilson went 2-for-3 and ended the day by going 5-for-6 while scoring four runs and driving in three. Justin Johnson was 1-for-3 but had a triple and drove in a game-high four runs.

The Cobbers once again got a quality start from their starting pitcher. "Nate (Wendorf) was very efficient after the first inning," said Burgau.

Wendorf started the game and gave up four hits in the first two innings but went on to retire the final eight batters he faced. He went on to earn his first collegiate win.

Brcye Feia and Luke Kramer also pitched in the second game. Feia went a pair of innings and allowed only one run while Kramer finished off with a hitless seventh inning.

The Cobbers will now open up conference play when they face Carleton on Saturday, Mar. 31 at 1 p.m. in Northfield.