A Fantastic Florida Finish

DAVENPORT, Fla. (3/15/23)----It was a fantastic way to finish off the annual spring trip to Florida. Concordia recorded their first sweep of the season as the beat Hamilton (N.Y.) 4-1 and 4-3.

The two wins ups the Cobbers win streak to three games as they make the trek back to Minnesota. CC finishes the Florida season with a 5-7 record.

Like their Game 2 win over Loras on Monday, Concordia used big-run innings to come away with the two victories. The Cobbers had a 4-run second inning in the opener against the Continentals, and then recorded a 3-run sixth inning to overcome a 2-1 deficit in Game 2.

In addition to the key big-run innings, Concordia also got solid pitching in both games. Jacoby Nold went the distance in Game 1 to earn his first win of the season. In the second game, Dylan Inniger was used as the opener for the second time and responded with a perfect first inning. He gave way to Mitch Porter who went the next 3.2 innings and handed the baton to Max Boran. Boran went 1.1 innings, allowed only one hit and struck out a pair to pick up his first win in 2023. Matt Gruber recorded his first dave of the year when he pitched the seventh inning.

Andy Gravdahl, Gruber and Jake Christianson led the Cobber offense. All three players had a hit in each game. Gravdahl and Christianson both had three hits on the day to lead CC.     

Concordia scored all four runs in the first game in the second inning – and all four came with two outs in the frame. Gravdahl had the big hit when he came through with a bases loaded single that scored Christianson and Justin Kloster. Boran came home on a single to left field off the bat of Gruber. The final run in the inning came via Gravdahl's legs. He stole third base and then scored on a wild pitch.

Hamilton (0-5) scored their only run of the opener in the fifth inning on a 2-out double down the right field line.

The Cobbers outhit the Continentals 6-4 in Game 1, with Gravdahl and Christianson posting 2-hit stat lines.        

Nold pitched all 7.0 innings, allowed the four hits and one earned run and struck out one. He faced one batter over the minimum in the sixth and seventh innings to record his fifth career win.

The second game went back-and-forth in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings before CC held on in the seventh.

The Cobbers took a 1-0 lead in the fourth frame on a Christianson double that plated Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe who coaxed a 2-out walk.

Hamilton retaliated with two runs in the fifth to grab a 2-1 lead. The Cobbers then won the game with their 3-run sixth. CC got hits from Henkemeyer-Howe and Caiden Kjelstrom. Two of the three runs in the inning were unearned after the Continentals had a costly infield error that scored Henkemeyer-Howe.

Concordia survived the seventh inning after the Continentals scored one run, and then had the game-tying runner thrown out at third base on a rope from Kloster in left field.

The Cobbers posted six hits again in the finale. Unlike the opener, CC didn't have a player with more than one hit in the game.

Christianson leads the team in hitting as they head back to the snow and cold. He played in 11 of the 12 games and hit .367. He also posted team-high numbers in on-base percentage (.457) and slugging percentage (.400).

UP NEXT: Concordia recently added a pair of games inside US Bank Stadium in Minneapolis. The Cobbers will face Loras in a double dip on Saturday, Mar. 18 at 5:30 p.m. and 8:00 p.m.