Late-Game Magic Nearly Spells St. Olaf Twice

MOORHEAD, Minn. (5/09/23)---Concordia's late-game magic act almost pulled two rabbits out of the hat. Unfortunately for the Cobbers, the second rabbit peaked its head out of the hat, looked around and went back inside.

Concordia overcame a 6-4 lead in the bottom of the seventh inning in Game 1 against St. Olaf to prestidigitate a 7-6 win. The Cobbers followed that act with an encore that had them score five times in the eighth inning to make a 6-2 deficit disappear but had the Oles turn the house lights on with a 5-spot of their own in the ninth which sent CC to an 11-7 loss.

The split against the Oles moves the Cobbers into the No.3 seed for the upcoming MIAC playoffs. Concordia finishes the year with a 14-6 record in conference play, which is good for a 3-way tie for second place in the final MIAC standings.

The Cobbers finished the regular season with an overall mark of 20-16. It marks the first 20-win season for Concordia since 2010 when they went 24-17 and also tied for second place in the league standings.

The Big Maroon Machine didn't come alive until the fifth inning of the first game. Concordia trailed 6-1 after the top of the fifth but then recorded 3-run innings in the fifth and seventh innings to earn the 1-run win.

Thomas Horan and Chance Bye posted the biggest hits of the fifth frame when they produced run-scoring doubles.

Concordia won the opener on four hits in the seventh innings. Trailing 6-4, Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe led off the inning with a single. A Matt Gruber walk and a Wyatt Gunkel single loaded the bases. Max Boran drove home the first run when he reached on an infield error. Noah Pilon tied the game with a single to left field, and Jake Christianson came through with a walkoff single up the middle.

The Cobbers had another double-digit hit total in Game 1. They put up 13 base knocks with five players having 2-hit games. Christianson, Caiden Kjelstrom, Henkemeyer-Howe, Gunkel and Pilon all had two hits in the win.

Concordia used four pitchers in the first game. Alex Rudquist started the contest, Ethan Beyer took over in the fourth, Kyle Cluff pitched a scoreless sixth, and then Bergen Bauman didn't allow a run in the seventh to record his first collegiate win.

The second game was rolling by at a rapid pace until a rainstorm entered the area in the fifth inning. The teams cruised the first four innings without scoring a run and putting up only three total hits.

The game changed in the fifth when the Oles scored a single run. It looked like that be the winning run as a driving rain storm settled over Bucky Burgau Field and threatened to shorten the game.

The Cobbers tied the game in the bottom of the sixth inning when the St. Olaf pitcher couldn't find a handle on the wet ball and walked Nick Pederson to bring home Pilon from third base after CC loaded the bases.

The game was then halted due to the escalating downpour. After a 15-minute delay, Concordia took a 2-1 lead with a single score in the seventh.

The teams then traded 5-run frames in the eighth and ninth innings. The Oles went first by plating five runs in the top of the eighth to take a 6-2 lead. The Cobbers regained the 1-run lead with five runs in their half of the eighth. Justin Kloster provided the pop in the eighth when he turned on a pitch to crank out a 2-run home run. The long ball was Kloster's first of the year, bringing CC to within two at 6-4.

The other 2-run hit came off the bat of Matt Samuelson, who delivered with runners on second and third after Horan was intentionally walked right before Samuelson. The two RBI were Samuelson's first of the season and gave Concordia a 7-6 lead.

Just when you thought the Cobbers would pull another Houdin-esque escape trick, St. Olaf posted five runs on four hits in the ninth to earn the 11-7 victory.

Carter Thielke got his first start on the mound for Concordia and went a strong 7.0 innings. He only allowed one run, scattered seven hits and struck out four.

The Cobbers added another 11 hits in Game 2. Canaan Fagerland came off the bench in the fourth inning and went 2-for-2 with a walk and a run scored. Pilon and Max Boran had the other 2-hit games in the nightcap.

HIT RECORD: The 24 hits on the day for Concordia pushed their total to 262 for the MIAC season. The 262 base knocks break the conference record for hits in a single conference season. The old record of 261 was set by St. Thomas in 2000.

TOP O' THE MIAC TO YA: The Cobber Big Maroon Machine led the MIAC in batting average, hits, runs and on-base percentage. CC hit .381 in its 20 league games. They scored 189 runs and had an on-base mark of .451.

TOP O' THE MIAC TO YA: Concordia also had several players finish at the top of the MIAC in stat categories for conference play. Andy Gravdahl led in hits (40) and total bases (62). The Cobbers also had the Top 3 RBI leaders for the year. Horan led all players with 25, Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe was second with 24 and Gravdahl was third at 23.

UP NEXT: Concordia will travel to Collegeville for the double-elimination MIAC tournament. The Cobbers will open play against the host Johnnies on Thursday, May 11 at 7 p.m.