Walkoff Warriors Sweep Cardinals

MOORHEAD, Minn. (5/04/22)--- If Concordia goes on to make the playoffs, May 4 will be the day season turned in their favor. After suffering through postponements and cancellations in the month of April, the Cobbers got a trio of game-saving when they were down to their final out and came away with a pair of 3-2 walkoff wins in extra innings over St. Mary's.

Concordia trailed 1-0 in Game 1 in the bottom of the seventh and tied the game on a double from Justin Kloster. CC won the game in the eighth when they trailed 2-1 and were down to their final out. Jake Christianson hit a seeing-eye single through the left side that scored Andy Gravdahl and Noah Pilon to give the Cobbers the first 3-2 win.

In the second game, Concordia trailed 2-1, and was down to their final out in the bottom of the seventh, before Thomas Horan singled home Pilon to tie the score at 2-2. The game would extend all the way to the 12th inning before a 2-out, bloop single from Pilon scored Wyatt Gunkel from second to give CC the second 3-2 victory.

Two 3-2 wins, two extra-inning wins, two come-from-behind wins. The force was definitely with Concordia on May the 4th.

With all the offensive heroics on the day, lost in the drama were stellar pitching performances from Jacoby Nold, Dylan Inniger and Matt Gruber. Nold went the full 8.0 innings in the opener. He didn't give up a 2-out hit, held the Cardinals to a .118 average with runners on base and earned his team-leading fourth win of the year.

Inniger got the start in Game 2 and went the first 5.0 innings. He allowed a single run, only three hits and struck out four.

Gruber came on in the eighth inning and finished off the final 5.0 innings. He retired the first nine batters he faced, only allowed two hits, didn't let an SMU runner get past second base and recorded his first win of the year.

Max Boran and Gabe Duncan filled in the two innings between Inniger and Gruber. Both pitchers went 1.0 innings. Boran allowed a single run on two hits in the sixth, and Duncan pitched a scoreless seventh inning.

Both teams had seven hits in the first game. Christianson had the only multiple-hit game for CC. He went 2-for-4 and drove in the two game-deciding runs.

The Cobbers outhit St. Mary's 11-8 in Game 2. Gravdahl and Gunkel both had 2-hit games.   

NOLD RUSH: Nold recorded his fourth straight win in the opener. During that stretch, which started after his first start on Mar. 1, he has pitched 26.0 innings and has only allowed three earned runs. That's a 1.04 ERA if you are scoring at home.                

THEY LOVE TO GET ON BASE: The Cobbers had three players extend impressive hit and on-base streaks. Horan and Gravdahl had hits in both games and have now hit safely in 12 straight. Horan and Gruber upped their on-base strings as well. Both players have reached safely in all 23 games this year. Horan has now reached safely in 35 straight games in a streak that dates back to Apr. 27 of last year. Gruber had a 6-game on-base streak at the end of last season, so his current streak has reached 29 games.
 
JUST GO TO FIRST ALREADY: The Cobbers drew six intentional walks on the day. Cobber leading hitter Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe led the way with three intentional passes. Gruber was put on first a pair of times.

UP NEXT: Concordia will have little time to celebrate the sweep as they will welcome Carleton to The Buck on Thursday, May 5 for a DH starting at 2:30.  

CONCORDIA vs. ST. MARY'S WALKOFF HITS