Roll Cobbs Roll

WINTER HAVEN, Fla. (2/26/15)--- Ho hum. Another two games.  Another 23 runs. Another 25 hits. Another two wins.

Concordia posted another pair of double-digit run totals and beat Hanover (Ind.) 12-10 and Cleary (Mich.) 11-0 to run their win streak to five games to start the 2015 season. The Cobbers are now 5-0 for the first time since 1995 when first-year coach Chris Coste was a senior and CC went 12-0 to kick start their MIAC championship campaign.

Concordia has now scored 56 runs and hammered out an impressive 68 hits in the first five games of the year. The Cobber offense is averaging 11.2 runs per game while the pitching staff and defense is limiting opponents to 3.2 runs per game.

CC has six of their nine starting position players hitting at least .400 for the year. The Cobber quintet of Aaron Green, Phil Kuball, Cody Rahman, Tim Carlson and Nick Bornhauser have all hit safely in all five games in 2015.  

The best day of the game came in the opener where Concordia rallied from a 4-0 deficit to post a 12-10 victory over Hanover.  The Cobbers gave up four runs in the first inning but then scored six runs in the third, fourth and fifth innings before opening the game open in the top of the sixth when they plated five runs on five hits.

Concordia then had to survive a late-game scare from the Panthers as Hanover scored five in the bottom of the sixth to cut the lead to 11-10. CC tacked on a single insurance run and then watched relievers Nate Wendorf and Bryce Feia close out the final three innings without allowing a run.

Senior All-Region outfielder Devin Johnson went 4-for-5, drove in two runs and scored two runs to lead the Cobber offense which collected 14 hits in the nine-inning affair.

Rahman and Jordan Domine both had two hits on the day. Rahman was 2-for-3 with a pair of runs scored while Domine went 2-for-4 and had two RBI and two runs scored. Domine had the big hit in the five-run sixth when he doubled to left field to drive in a pair of runs.

Sam Mattson pitched the first six innings for Concordia and earned his first win of the year. Wendorf entered the game in the seventh inning with the Cobbers clinging to a one-run lead. Wendorf allowed a single to the first batter he faced but then retired six of the next seven batters he faced to get CC to the ninth and closer Feia.

Feia earned his second save in as many days by facing the minimum three batters. He allowed a single to the second batter he faced but a heads-up defensive play by Green in right field to cut down the runner as he tried to stretch the hit into a double. Feia then struck out the third hitter of the inning to put an exclamation mark on the team's fourth straight win.

The second game against Cleary (Mich.) was all about first-year players. Green and freshman Chad Johnson hit their first collegiate home runs while first-year pitcher s Tanner Kluis and Turner Storm threw the first eight innings and only allowed two hits.

Kluis was on point in his first collegiate start. He retired the first eight batters he faced and wound up giving up only one hit in seven innings of work. He struck out seven and faced only 25 batters.

Storm then pitched the eighth inning and gave up a single hit in his first collegiate outing.

Mitch Boser closed out the second win of the day by hurling a perfect ninth inning.

Green, who is a sophomore but playing in his first season at Concordia, went 3-for-4 and had four RBI from the leadoff spot in the batting order. He clouted his first collegiate home run in the fourth inning when he hammered a three-run long ball over the left field fence.

The most dramatic at-bat of the day belonged to freshman Chad Johnson. Johnson pinch-hit for Devin Johnson in the eighth inning and proceeded to launch a ball over the left field fence that might still be in flight. His tape-measure shot in his first collegiate at-bat plated Kuball and capped the CC scoring for the two games.

Besides Green, the only other Cobber player to record a multiple-hit game was senior outfielder Eric Carlsen who went 2-for-2 and scored a run and drove in another.

Concordia will have a day off before putting their five-game win streak on the line when they face Wartburg on Saturday, Feb. 28 at 3 p.m.