Cobbers Sweep St. Mary's

WINONA, Minn. (4/10/12)—Concordia recorded a season-high 22 runs in the first game against St. Mary's and then held on for a one-run win in the second game and swept the Cardinals 22-2, 4-3 in Winona.
 
The two wins push Concordia's overall record above the .500 mark. CC is now 12-11 overall and 4-4 in conference play. St. Mary's falls for the fourth straight time and is now 11-14 in all games and 0-6 in the MIAC.       

The Cobbers set the tone for the day by plating 13 runs in the very first inning of the day and went on to  push across 22 total runs on 19 hits. Sophomore shortstop Braden Rahman and junior designated hitter Chris Gilson did the majority of the offensive work for CC in the opener. Rahman was 3-for-5 and had a career-best seven RBI. Gilson was 3-for-4, had a three-run homer in the first and finished with four RBI. Leadoff hitter Jordan Doschadis went 3-for-4 and scored three runs.

Cobber sophomore pitcher Jackson Meland came away with his second strong starting performance. He went 5.0 innings and earned his second consecutive win. Meland gave up only two hits and one earned run and lowered his season ERA to 2.40. Kirk Schroeder pitched the final two innings and allowed only one hit and struck out one.

The second game came down to clutch hitting. The Cobbers were able to get the base hits with men in scoring in position while the Cardinals stranded 12 runners on base.

The biggest hit in the second game came off the bat of Rahman. He doubled to left center in the top of the seventh inning to score the game-winning run. The Cobbers had jumped to an early 3-0 lead before SMU tied the score with a single run in the fourth and then a pair of runs in the fifth. That set the stage for Rahman's late-game heroics when he plated Brad Olson from second for the game-deciding run.

Both teams had six hits in the nightcap. Gilson was the only Cobber with more than one hit in the game. He was 2-for-3 with an RBI and finished the day 5-for-7. Rahman's lone hit of the second game was the double in the seventh and he went 1-for-3 in the game and 4-for-8 on the afternoon.

Concordia used three pitchers in the second game. Nate Wendorf started the contest and pitched the first 5.0 innings. He allowed two unearned runs and struck out six. Luke Kramer came on in the sixth and got four outs to pick up his second win of the year. Bryce Feia relieved Kramer in the seventh with one out and runners on first and second. Feia continued his hot pitching ways by getting the next two batters to hit routine fly ball outs. He earned his first collegiate save and has not given up a single earned run in 10.2 innings of work this year.

The Cobbers will stay on the road and finish off their three-doubleheader road trip when they play at Augsburg on Saturday, Apr. 14 at 1 p.m.