Offense And Anderson Lead Cobbers To Split With Saints

RIVER FALLS, Wis. (4/04/24)---Concordia split its doubleheader with St. Scholastica in a twinbill played in River Falls, Wis. due to unplayable field conditions in Duluth.

The Cobbers used an 11-hit attack, and the arm of freshman Grant Anderson, to come away with an 8-0  win in the first game but couldn't get back on offensive track in the finale and lost 6-1.

Concordia is now 4-14 overall and 1-3 in MIAC play this season. The Saints are a similar 1-3 in the conference and move to 11-6 in all games.

Game 1: Concordia 8, St. Scholastica 0
The Cobbers opened up the bat rack early in the opener as they scored three runs in the first and backed that up with a 2-run second inning.  

Thomas Horan opened the scoring when he singled to center field to bring home David Dorsey, who came through with a leadoff single. Wyatt Gunkel had the other RBI in the inning as CC scored three runs on two hits and was helped by a pair of Scholastica errors.

Gunkel produced the big hit in the second frame. He laced a single to right field to plat Dorsey and Jake Christianson which gave the Cobbers a 5-0 lead.

CC would add two more runs in the fourth and finish off the scoring with a single run in the sixth.

Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe drove in both runs in the fourth when he singled to right field. Horan and Caiden Kjelstrom scored on the play. Chance Bye collected the final RBI for CC when he doubled to right field to plate Henkemeyer-Howe.          

The Cobbers had at least one hit in five of the seven innings and finished Game 1 by outhitting the Saints 11-3.

Dorsey, Horan and Henkemeyer-Howe all had multiple hit games. Dorsey went 3-for-5 from the leadoff spot, while Horan and Henkemeyer-Howe were both 2-for-5. Gunkel drove in three runs and was 1-for-3.

Anderson pitched a gem in his first career MIAC contest. He went the distance, didn't give up a run and allowed only three hits. He got stronger as the game went along and ended up retiring the final 11 batters he faced.

Game 2: Concordia 1, St. Scholastica 6
While Concordia had four multiple-hit innings in the opener, they weren't able to post a multiple-hit game in the finale and fell 6-1.

The Saints flipped the storyline from Game 1 and grabbed the early-game momentum. They scored two runs in the first inning and held a 2-1 lead until the seventh when they were able to record back-to-back 2-run frames.

Concordia's lone run in the game came in the third when Dorsey lofted a fly ball that scored Christianson, who opened the inning with a double down the left-field line.

Henkemeyer-Howe came through with his second 2-hit game of the day. He went 2-for-4 with a double. Kjelstrom and Christianson had the other base knocks for CC.

The Cobbers used three pitchers to get through the 9-inning game. Alex Rudquist pitched the first 6.0 innings and only allowed one earned run. He struck out three and gave up five hits.

Ethan Beyer and Bergen Bauman both pitched a single inning and both gave up a pair of runs.

HEADING FOR 100
With his back-to-back 2-hit games, Henkemeyer-Howe now has 95 career hits. He needs five more hits to become the 30th player in program history to reach the 100-hit milestone.

UP NEXT: Concordia will stay on the road in conference play when they travel to St. Paul to take on Hamline on Saturday, Apr. 6.