Seventh Inning Stops Cobbers Against Immaculata

AUBURNDALE, Fla. (3/9/24)---An 8-run, seventh inning proved to be the difference in Concordia's 13-3 loss to Immaculata (Pa.) on Saturday. The Cobbers and Mighty Macs were locked in a back-and-forth battle until Immaculata scored eight runs in the decisive seventh frame.

Concordia is now 3-6 on the season, while Immaculata moves to 8-4.

The Cobbers fell behind 5-0 in the second inning when the Mighty Macs scored a single run in the first and four more in the second. CC started its comeback trail in the bottom of the second when they scored two runs on four hits.

David Dorsey and Wyatt Gunkel led off the inning with back-to-back singles which put the runners on second and third. Chance Bye drove in both Dorsey and Gunkel when recorded the third straight single of the inning.

Thanks to Dorsey's legs, Concordia cut the lead to 5-3 in fourth. He was hit by a pitch to start the fourth. He moved up to second on a ground out and followed that by stealing third base. Dorsey would sprint home on a passed ball at the end of Justin Kloster's at-bat.

The second inning produced four of the Cobbers six hits in the game. Caiden Kjelstrom had a hit in the second, while Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe posted a single in the sixth and senior Blake Vagle had a pinch-hit single in the seventh inning.

Brett Engelmeyer, Wyatt Mohr, Dylan Erholtz and Skylar Timmer all saw time on the mound for the Cobbers. Mohr was the most effective as he went 4.2 innings, allowed only one run and struck out five batters.

STAT STUFF:
- Gunkel now owns the longest hitting streak for the Cobbers. Freshman Ben Shumansky was held hitless in three at-bats which ended his 7-game hit streak. Gunkel has now hit safely in five straight games and leads the team with a .391 average.
- Kjelstrom's single in the second inning extended his team-leading on-base streak to nine games.
- Dorsey scored two of the team's three runs on Saturday and leads the team in runs scored with 10.
- Henkemeyer-Howe's single in the sixth was his 92nd career base hit.
- The seventh inning has been the Achilles' heel for the Cobbers in Florida. They have been outscored 19-1 in the seventh inning of their games this year. CC has only been outscored 53-47 in the other eight innings combined.      

UP NEXT: Concordia will finish off its Florida spring trip when they square off against Wis.-Superior in a doubleheader on Sunday, Mar. 10 in Davenports, Fla.