Offense Fuels Comeback Sweep Over Augsburg

COLLEGEVILLE, Minn. (4/10/23)---Concordia got offensive to post a pair of comeback wins over Augsburg in a doubleheader played at St. John's.

The Cobbers scored 26 runs and pounded out 29 hits as they erased multiple-run deficits in each game. Concordia scored eight runs in fifth inning and posted a 16-10 win in the opener. CC needed to go to the bottom of the ninth in Game 2 to earn a 10-9 victory. Thomas Horan's walkoff walk helped the Cobbers gain the sweep after they trailed 6-4 after six innings.

The sweep is the first for Concordia since they returned from Florida. The two wins also evens the Cobbers' MIAC record at 2-2. CC is 8-12 in all games in 2023.

The top of the batting order provided the pop for the Concordia offense on the day. The Top 4 hitters in the lineup combined for 17 hits, posted a .531 average and drove in 13 runs. Senior Andy Gravdahl led all Cobbers on the day. The All-Conference outfielder had three hits in each game, was a combined 6-for-9 and hit the first home run of the year for CC.

The 16 runs scored in the opener are the most by the Cobbers in any single game in 2023 and most since they dropped 17 on Emerson in Florida in 2020. The 26 runs scored are the most in a conference doubleheader since they scored 31 in a sweep over Macalester on Apr. 8, 2015.

Concordia trailed 9-3 in Game 1 after the Auggies plated five runs in the top of the fourth inning. The Cobbers responded by sending 13 batters to the plate and scoring eight runs in the fifth frame. The two big hits of the game-deciding inning were a 3-run double from Carter Mulcahy and a 2-run homer from Gravdahl. The shot to center field was the seventh of Gravdahl's career.

The Cobbers would tack on a 5-spot in the sixth inning to bring their total to 16. Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe drove in two runs in the sixth with a 2-out single to center field. All five of CC's runs in the sixth came with two outs.

One of the key sparks in the game came in the fifth inning when senior Gabe Duncan entered the game and took the mound. He stopped the Augsburg offense that had just put up eight runs in two innings. Duncan pitched 2.0 innings and allowed two hits to earn his first win of the year.

Concordia outhit the Auggies 16-11 in the opener and posted a .450 average with runners in scoring position and a .417 mark with two outs in an inning.

The second game was won in the seventh inning after the Cobbers fell behind 6-4. CC scored three times in the first frame, but then watched the Auggies record a 2-run second inning to tie the game, and then a 3-run fifth to take the 2-run lead.

Concordia had four hits in the seventh and were helped out by a pair of costly errors by Augsburg. Mulcahy was at the center of the multiple-run inning once more. He singled laced a single to the outfield with two men on and came around to score on the play after the Auggie outfielder misplayed the ball that turned a run-scoring single into a 3-run, momentum swing.

Augsburg eventually tied the game in the top of the ninth with a 2-out, 3-run homer.

That only set the stage for Concordia's last-inning heroics. With the scored tied at 9-9, Gravdahl led off the inning with a single. He advanced to second on a single from Henkemyer-Howe, but was erased at third on the next at-bat due to a fielder's choice play. Concordia then scratched out two straight walks to end the game. Mulcahy walked to load the bases, and then Horan to a 3-2 pitch for a ball to win the game.

Sophomore Dylan Inniger got the win after he pitched the eighth and ninth innings Dylan Erholtz started the final and went 4.1 innings. Mitch Porter pitched the 2.2 innings from the fifth to the seventh and gave way to Inniger.

HEADS UP COACH: Don't look now but Gravdahl is on the doorstep of Cobber baseball history. His six hits bring his Concordia career total to 160. That total is No.2 on the all-time hit list. He just passed Phil Kuball who finished his career with 158 hits. Next up – head coach Chris Coste who is the current Cobber record holder with 162 hits.   

95 AND COUNTING: Senior Thomas Horan is set to become the 29th player in Cobber baseball history to reach the 100-hit milestone. He was 3-for-8 on the day with a triple and three RBI. The three bas knocks bring his career total to 95.

UP NEXT: Concordia is slated to head to Duluth to take on St. Scholastica on Wendesday, Apr. 12 at 2:30 and 5 p.m.