Bat Day In Florida

AUBURNDALE, Fla. (03/06/22)---It was bat day in Florida on Sunday. Concordia hammered out 18 hits and scored 13 runs in its 13-10 win over Crown (Minn.).

The Cobbers posted 5-run innings in both the fourth and eighth frames, as they won for the second time in three games and upped their overall record to 3-4.

The top of Concordia's batting order was on fire on Sunday. The Top 6 hitters accounted for 16 of the team's 18 hits and combined for a .516 average with 11 RBI and three extra-base hits.

The most productive bat of the day belonged to freshman Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe who went 4-for-6 and drove in four runs. He cranked out a grand slam home run in the fourth inning which also happened to be his first collegiate long ball.

Senior center fielder Andy Gravdahl and sophomore Wyatt Gunkel also led the charge with Henkemeyer-Howe. Gravdahl went 3-for-6 with three RBI and a pair of doubles, while Gunkel was 4-for-5 with an RBI and a run scored.  

Crown (2-3) got on the board first with a single run in the first frame. They retook the 1-run lead after the teams swapped 2-run innings in the second and third.

The Cobbers then exploded for five runs, four of which came on the Henkemeyer-Howe granny, in the fourth frame which helped them take a 7-3 lead.

The Storm put up single runs in the fifth and sixth innings before taking a 9-7 lead when they scored four times in the bottom seventh.

Concordia responded with their second 5-spot of the game in the eighth inning. Gravdahl came through with a 2-run double that plated Nick Pederson and Thomas Horan. After a Henkemeyer-Howe infield single, Gunkel responded with his own infield hit which brought home Gravdahl. Sophomore Carter Mulcahy singled through the right side of the infield to bring home Henkemeyer-Howe and give CC an 11-9 lead. A passed ball would bring home the fifth run of the inning for the Cobbers.

Crown got one back in the bottom of the eighth, before Mulcahy's 2-out single in the ninth scored Gravdahl from second to finish off the score line.

Gunkel, the No.5 hitter in the order, continues to light up opposing pitchers in Florida. He leads the team with a .632 batting average and a .692 on-base percentage. He also has five multiple-hit games in the six games he has played this season.

Gravdahl extended his team-leading hit streak to seven. He has at least one hit in all seven of CC's games and is hitting .375 for the year.

The 4-hit day for Henkemeyer-Howe brings his season average up to .529. He leads the team with a .765 slugging percentage. Henkemeyer-Howe has only played in four games this year and multiple-hits in three of those games.       

Horan and Mulcahy had the other multiple-hit games for Concordia against Crown. Horan was 2-for-4 from the leadoff spot and is hitting .345 with a team-best 10 runs scored on the year. Mulcahy went 2-for-5 and is now hitting .389.

Ashwin Stratton started the game for the Cobbers and went the first 6.0 innings. He gave way to Luke Levasseur in the seventh who handed the ball to freshman Jake Christianson in the eighth. Christianson went 1.0 innings and got the win. Matt Gruber pitched the ninth and earned his first save of the year.

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off their Florida trip when they square off against Marian (Wis.) in a doubleheader on Monday, Mar. 7 at 8:15 a.m.