Rose Blooms For Sweet-Smelling Split

MOORHEAD, Minn. (5/06/13)—Concordia rode the arm of junior Mike Rose and the strength of one big offensive inning to gain a split with Bethel on Monday. The Cobbers dropped the opener 2-0 but then rallied to win the nightcap 5-2.

Concordia remains at the .500 level with the split. CC is now 7-7 in league play and 14-12 overall. Bethel splits its third consecutive MIAC doubleheader and is now 9-9 in the conference and 22-13 in all games.

The victory in game 2 pushes Cobber head coach Bucky Burgau to 399 career MIAC wins. He is now win league victory away from becoming the first coach in the history of the league to win 400 conference contests. 


Bucky Burgau Postgame Video Interview
     

Rose allowed just five hits and did not give up an extra base hit in earning the complete-game victory. He gave up a single run in the first frame and then allowed only two more hits the rest of the way as he picked up his third win of the season. Rose retired the final nine batters he faced. Rose did not give up an earned run in the game and struck out three.

"Mike Rose is a smart guy," commented Burgau. "He doesn't get flustered. He's a real student of the game. He threw strikes, had a good fastball and good location."

Rose's gem on the mound almost went for naught. The Cobber bats failed to score a run in the first game of the twinbill and were held off the scoreboard for the first three innings in game 2. Trailing 1-0, the Cobbers blitzed for Bethel for four runs in the fourth. The biggest blow of the inning was struck by senior Michael Olson who connected on a two-run triple down the right-field line. Freshman Phil Kuball drove in the first run of the inning on a single to center field.

"We hit more line drives (in game 2)," said Burgau. "We still had 12 outs to go in the game so I wasn't concerned...Michael Olson got a big hit for us – the triple down the line with two guys on and we were able to come away with a big win. That was a huge win for us."  

Concordia outhit Bethel 6-5 in the second game. Cobber leadoff hitter Kyle Kraemer was the only player on either team to come away with more than one hit in the finale. He went 2-for-2 and scored a run. Olson was 1-for-3, drove in two runs with the triple and also scored a run.

The first game was all about Bethel pitcher Sean Glenn. Glenn continually kept the Cobber offense on edge by throwing off speed pitches for strikes. Concordia could only get three hits in the opener and Glenn was able to strike out five CC batters.

Cobber second baseman Erik Hiedeman had two of the team's three hits. He was 2-for-2 in the opener

Concordia used three pitchers in the first game. Ross Merriman started and went 6.0 innings. He allowed six hits and two earned runs. Bryce Feia and Shawn Krueger combined to pitch a scoreless seventh inning.

The Cobbers will continue their four-day, eight-game spring to the end of the regular season on Tuesday when they play at St. Olaf at 2:30 p.m.