Cobbers Get Offensive To Hand Renz First College Win

AUBURNDALE, Fla. (3/04/24)—It was a game of firsts for Concordia as they got offensive on the second day of competition in the sunny state of Florida. The Cobbers banged out 13 hits to score 13 runs and went on to beat Calvin (Mich.) 13-7.

The win is the first of the year for the Cobbers, the first college victory for head coach Anthony Renz and junior Ethan Beyer picked up his first collegiate win.

Calvin (2-4) jumped on the board first with 2-run innings in the first and second frames. They increased their lead to 5-1 with a single score in the bottom of the fifth.

Concordia's bats officially arrived in Florida in the sixth inning of their third game on their spring break trip. The Cobbers scored five runs in the sixth to grab a 6-5 lead. They duplicated their 5-run feat two innings later when they plated five more players to seize control of the game and take an 11-7 lead. The CC offense capped their only game of the day by scoring two more runs in the top of the ninth to bring the final total to 13-7.

The Cobbers had seven different players come through with at least one hit in the 9-inning game. CC also had five hitters with multiple base knocks.

Senior Thomas Horan picked up the first long ball of the year for Concordia when he started the 5-run sixth inning. He hit a home run over the right field fence that scored Jake Christianson, who reached on an error to start the inning.

Horan went 2-for-6 in the game from the No.3 spot in the batting order.

Senior catcher Wyatt Gunkel led Concordia with three hits. He was 3-for-5 against Calvin and scored two runs and had an RBI.

Justin Kloster collected his second multiple-hit game of the year. He went 2-for-5 with a double and a team-best three RB. Kloster is hitting .444 for the first three games, which is tied with Gunkel for the team lead.

Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe recorded his first multiple-hit game of the year from the No.4 spot in the lineup. He was 2-for-5 with two RBI and a run scored.

A day after collecting his first college hit, freshman Ben Shumansky recorded his first multiple-hit game. He was 2-for-3 with an RBI and a run scored as the team's DH.

The two teams combined to trot out 11 pitchers in the game. Concordia had five hurlers see action. Brett Engelmeyer got the start and went the first 4.0 innings. He was followed by Wyatt Mohr and J Riley Ohm.

Beyer entered in the sixth inning and went 1.1 innings to record his first collegiate win. He didn't give up a run, allowed only one hit and struck out one.

Chance Bye got the final four outs in the game to come away with his first save of the year. Like Beyer, he didn't give up a run and conceded only one hit.

UP NEXT: Concordia will return to doubleheader action when they face Bethany (W.V.) on Tuesday, Mar. 5 at 1 and 3 p.m. (cst).