The Milestones And Hits Just Keep On Coming

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (4/14/23)---To paraphrase a line from the movie "A Few Good Men" – "the milestones and wins just keep on coming" for Cobber baseball.

On Wednesday, Concordia ran its win streak to six games and senior Thomas Horan became the 29th player in Cobber history to reach the 100-hit milestone. Horan's leadoff single in the eighth inning of Game 1 earned him a spot next to teammates Andy Gravdahl, who became the Cobber career leader in hits on Wednesday, and Matt Gruber in the exclusive CC hit club.

Horan eventually scored the game-winning run in the opener as Concordia outlasted Carleton 5-3. The Cobbers then posted their third straight MIAC sweep by rolling to a 15-1 victory in the nightcap.

The two wins in Northfield even the Cobbers' overall record at 12-12. CC is now 6-2 in league play which is good for third place in the current conference standings.

Concordia survived a late scare from the Knights in the opener. The Cobbers led for the first 5.5 innings after they put up three runs in the first inning. Jake Christianson scored on a wild pitch after leading off the game with a walk. Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe followed the wild pitch by connecting on a 2-run single to give CC the early 3-0 lead.

The advantage would hold up until the bottom of the sixth when Carleton plated two runs to tie the game at 3-3. The Knights almost won the game in the bottom of the seventh, but Gravdahl showed off the depth of his baseball skill by throwing out the potential game-winning run from center field.

Carleton (4-13, 0-6 MIAC) led off the seventh with a double. After an infield pop out, the next batter reached base on an error and the ball rolled into the outfield. Gravdahl raced to the ball and fired a laser to catcher Wyatt Gunkel who applied the tag to the runner who was trying to score from second.

The Cobbers won the game in the eighth when Horan came through with his 100th career hit, advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt and then scored on David Dorsey's double. Dorsey would come around to add the insurance run when he scored on Christianson's RBI single.

In addition to the timely hitting, the first-game win was keyed by the pitching of Dylan Inniger. Inniger got the rare call as a starter rather than an opener and went 6.0 innings. He only allowed two runs on four hits and struck out three.

Luke Levasseur entered the game in the seventh inning, worked out of the jam in the inning and then closed the door with a 1-2-3 eighth to earn his first win of the year.

Concordia outhit the Knights 8-3 in the first game. Horan was the only CC player with more than one hit. He went 3-for-4 to reach the 100-hit mark in style.

The second game was a return to their offensive form for the Cobbers. Concordia entered the day having scored 53 runs on 60 hits in their past four games, and proceeded to light up the scoreboard for 15 more runs on 16 hits in the nightcap.
The 16 hits are tied for second in the season for Concordia. CC has now posted 16 base knocks on three occasions in the last six games.   

The recent offensive rampage has taken the Cobbers' team batting average from the .250 level all the way up to .297. Concordia is now fourth in the MIAC in hitting in all games.

Gravdahl was the ring leader for Concordia's hit parade in Game 2. He went 4-for-5 with six RBI and three runs scored. The four hits are a season high and he has now recorded at least three hits in five of the past six games.

Nine different Cobbers had at least one hit in the finale. Henkemeyer-Howe and Matt Gruber both had multiple-hit games. Gruber was 3-for-3 with three RBI and Henkemeyer-Howe went 2-for-2 with two RBI.

Starting pitcher Mitch Porter was the beneficiary of Concordia's 15-run attack. He went the first 4.0 innings and didn't allow a run on six hits to pick up his first win of the season.

Gabe Duncan, Bergen Bauman and Chance Bye all pitched 1.0 innings, and combined to finish off the game on the hill for CC.

6-GAME RAKE FESTIVAL: In the past six games, the Cobbers have a team batting average of .393. The most eye-opening stat? They have a team OPS (on-base percentage + slugging percentage) of 1.046. To put that into perspective, the Tampa Bay Rays currently lead MLB with a .920 OPS. And you ask what is the MLB record for OPS in an entire season? That would be the 1894 Baltimore Orioles with a mark of .901.     

DON'T POKE THE BEAR: Since "waking up" after the first 13 games of the year, Gravdahl has fashioned together an 11-game hit streak where he is hitting .545 with 11 extra-base hits and 13 RBI. He is now hitting a team-best .382 for the season. In the team's eight conference games he is hitting an MIAC best .559. He also leads the conference in hits and triples and is third in OPS (1.566) and on-base percentage (.595). Go ahead and start the chants of M-V-P.         

IKE ATTACK: While Gravdahl is grabbing the headlines, Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe has been steadily going about his business. Henkemeyer-Howe has an 8-game hit streak and is hitting .354. He leads the team in multiple-RBI games (8) and is tied with Gravdahl for the lead in multiple-hit games (9). Henkemeyer-Howe is fifth in the MIAC in league games with a .517 average. He is also fourth in on-base percentage (.588).

ONE STREAK GONE, BUT ANOTHER REMAINS: Caiden Kjelstrom had his 10-game hit streak come to an end when he went 0-for-4 in the opener, but he still has a team-best 13-game, on-base streak. He kept that streak alive when he walked in the first inning of Game 1. Kjelstrom is hitting .327 for the year, has a .415 on-base percentage and a perfect 7-for-7 stolen base total.   

UP NEXT: Concordia will have a rare weekend off before packing up their 6-game win streak and traveling to Winona to take on St. Mary's on Tuesday, Apr. 18 at 1:00 p.m.