An "American Top 40" Hit-Recording Special

AUBURNDALE, Fla. (3/1/15)— Casey Kasem would have been a big fan of this year's Cobber baseball team. Kasem, who passed away this past summer, used to host American Top 40 and would say, "and the hits keep coming."

There is no Top 40 countdown for Concordia but "the hits keep coming" in the early stages of the 2015 season. The Cobbers hammered out 18 more hits in their 16-2 seven-inning win over Saint Vincent in Florida on Sunday.

Concordia remains unbeaten on the year as they improve to 6-0. The Cobbers have now pounded out 86 hits and scored 72 runs in their first six games of the year. For good measure, and just to prove the point at how well Concordia is hitting, the Cobbers are hitting a tidy .402 for the year.

The latest offensive explosion came at the hands of St. Vincent from Latrobe, Pa. – the hometown of legendary golf pro Arnold Palmer. The game was originally scheduled for nine innings but was called after seven innings on account of the 10-run rule.

The Cobbers scored multiple runs in each of the first four innings against the Bearcats. CC finished off the game by adding four more in the top of the seventh frame to bring the final score to 16-2.

While the Concordia offense has been stealing the spotlight in the early stages of the year, the Cobber pitching and defense hasn't been far behind. CC has only committed five errors in their first six games of the season.  

Senior Ross Merriman posted his second strong start of the season. He went the first five innings and allowed two runs while striking out three. He is now 2-0 and has a scant 1.80 ERA. He has only allowed two runs in the first 10 innings of work.

Freshman Zack Nelson pitched the final two innings against St. Vincent and didn't allow a run in his first collegiate outing. Nelson gave up three hits and retired four of the final five batters he faced.

Concordia had eight of their hitters in the starting lineup collect at post multiple-hit games and the quintet of Aaron Green, Phil Kuball, Cody Rahman, Tim Carlson and Nick Bornhauser and all extended their hitting streaks to six games to start the year.  

Rahman and Carlson led the Cobber Top 40 hit attack with three chart smashes each. Rahman went 3-for-4, drove in two runs and scored three times while Carlson was 3-for-4 with three RBI. Rahman has now had multiple-hit games in five of the first six contests.

Green and Jordan Domine had a game-high four RBI each. Green, the team's leadoff hitter, was 2-for-5 to go along with his four runs driven in. Domine had the biggest climbing hit on the chart buster Sunday. He hammered out a three-run home run in seventh inning to cap the Cobber 16-run attack.

Concordia now three players batting above .500 for the year and five starters hitting above the .450 mark. Bornhauser leads all CC players with a .550 average and a .640 on-base average.

Concordia will now face a familiar opponent when they square off against conference foe St. Mary's on Monday, Mar. 2 for a doubleheader beginning at 12 p.m.