Cobbers Split With Auggies In First Games Played At The Buck

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/09/22)---Concordia pounded out 14 hits and scored nine runs to post a 9-4 in Game 1 against Augsburg, but then couldn't get a clutch hit in the second game and fell 4-1.

The win in the opener was the fourth victory in six games for the Cobbers who are now 6-7 in all games and 1-3 in the MIAC. Augsburg splits its first conference DH of the year and is now 9-10 overall and 1-1 in league games.

Concordia jumped on Auggie pitching as they plated three runs on four hits in the first frame of the opener. The Cobbers batted first in the game because they were designated as the visitors after the DH was rescheduled from Minneapolis to Moorhead.

Augsburg rallied to score four times in the bottom of the second before Concordia rattled off six unanswered runs to claim the 9-4 win. CC scored two runs in each of the third and fourth innings, before adding single runs in the sixth and seventh frames.

The Cobbers outhit the Auggies 14-8 in the first game. Andy Gravdahl, Matt Gruber and Wyatt Gunkel all had 3-hit games for CC. Gunkel went 3-for-4 with a team-high three RBI. Carter Mulcahy went 2-for-3 with a pair of RBI and a run scored. The four players accounted for 11 of the team's 14 hits.

Ashwin Stratton recovered from a tough second inning, but then settled in and retired nine of the 11 batters he faced. He had 1-2-3 innings in both the fourth and fifth frames.

Stratton finished the game with 5.0 innings pitches and only allowed two runs to record his first win of the year. He struck out four and didn't walk a batter.

The second game hinged around the sixth inning. The teams traded single runs in the first and third innings. Augsburg took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first, before CC tie the game on a Gravdahl triple in the third. The Cobbers' lone run was scored with two outs when Thomas Horan singled to left field and then Gravdahl turned on a pitch and drove it down the right field line for his run-scoring 3-bagger. It was Gravdahl's fourth triple of the year and the 13th of his career.

The pivotal sixth started with the Cobbers loading the bases after Justin Kloster coaxed a walk with two outs in the inning. Concordia was unable to plate a run and went to the bottom of the inning still tied at 1-1. The Auggies came up with the exact same situation in the bottom of the inning. They had the bases loaded with two outs, but were able to come through with the game-winning 2-run single. They would tack on a third run in the inning on an infield error in the very next at-bat.

Augsburg held a slight 7-6 edge in hits in Game 2. Concordia had six different players all come up with one base knock each. Besides Horan and Gravdahl, Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe, Mulcahy, Gunkel and Kloster all had hits in the finale.

Mitch Porter started the game on the mound for CC and went the first 6.0 innings. He allowed three earned runs on six hits.

Kyle Cluff and Max Boran both pitched scoreless innings to close out the game. Cluff struck out a pair in the seventh and Boran got a double play ground ball to end the eighth.

UP NEXT: Concordia will stay in Moorhead, and be the home team, when they host Hamline on Monday, Apr. 11 at 2:30 p.m. in a DH that was originally schedule to be played on Apr. 5.