Big-Inning Blues At Macalester

ST. PAUL, Minn. (4/25/13)—Big innings cost Concordia in their first doubleheader in 18 days and the Cobbers fell 4-2 and 8-6 at Macalester on Thursday. The Cobbers gave up at least three runs in three innings and those big-run frames accounted for 10 of the 12 Scot runs on the day.

Concordia (9-7/2-2 MIAC) outhit Macalester 16-13 on the day and were led offensively by Jan-Erik Lindberg who went 3-for-3 with two RBI in game 2. Lindberg, who was playing in his first game of the season, had an RBI double in the third inning and then drove in a run with a single in the fourth.

The first big inning of the day for Macalester came in the fourth frame of the opener. Concordia took a 2-0 lead in the top of the second when Devin Johnson scored on a sacrifice fly off the bat of Brian Guler and then Kyle Kraemer singled home Jordan Doschadis. The Scots then pounced for three runs in the fourth and added a single score in the fifth. The Cobbers had runners on base in each of the final three innings but were never able to connect consecutive hits to come up with the game-tying runs.

Kraemer, Doschadis and Erik Hiedeman all went 2-for-3 in the first game for Concordia and junior pitcher Jackson Meland pitched all six innings. Meland gave up just five hits and three earned runs while striking out three.

Macalester (9-14/2-2 MIAC) won the second game with a three-run third inning and a four-run fifth frame. Those seven runs cancelled out two-run innings for the Cobbers in the third, fourth and seventh. Concordia had the tying runs on first and second in the top of the seventh but came away empty on a two-out at-bat.

In addition to the three hits from Lindberg, Matt Schalow went 1-for-1 and drove in a pair of runs with a double to right field in his only at-bat in the seventh inning. Johnson was 1-for-2 and scored two runs while freshman Phil Kuball was 1-for-4 and drove in the other CC run.

Concordia used four pitchers in the nightcap. Luke Kramer started the game and pitched the first four innings. He only allowed six hits and struck out six. Cooper Wilson was the only Cobber pitcher not to give up a run. He pitched .67 of an inning in the fifth and struck out one.

The Cobbers will now start to play on a regular basis and head south to St. Peter, Minn. to take on Gustavus on Saturday, Apr. 27 at 1 p.m. Concordia will then return to Moorhead to host Augsburg in the home opener on Sunday, Apr. 28 at 1 p.m.