Wind Blowing Out = Runs, Homers & Hits In Split With SJU

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/23/24)---The wind was blowing out and the hits and runs were plentiful at Bucky Burgau Field on Tuesday. Concordia and St. John's combined for 36 runs, nine home runs and 41 hits in their doubleheader split. The Cobbers came away with a 9-6 win in Game 2, while the Johnnies earned a 14-7 victory in the opener.   

The split keeps both teams in the Top 5 of the conference standings. The Cobbers are 8-8 in league play and in fifth place and the Johnnies are 8-4 and in third place. CC is 11-19 in all games.

GAME 1: Concordia 7, St. John's 14
It was a pair of 5-run innings that doomed Concordia in Game 1. CC allowed five runs in the third to fall behind 6-1 and then gave up another 5-spot in the top of the sixth after they had cut the margin to 6-5 in the bottom of the fifth.

Concordia tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second when they loaded the bases with one out and senior Justin Kloster drew a walk.

The 4-run fifth inning was spurred on by a David Dorsey grand slam. Caiden Kjelstrom doubled to right center and then Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe and Ben Shumansky loaded the bases with walks. Dorsey drilled his first homer of the day over the right-center field fence to bring CC to within one run at 6-5.

St. John's (19-10) would add five in the sixth and then the Cobbers countered with two in the bottom of the inning. Shumansky brought home the final runs in the game for Concordia with a 2-out single to left field.

Concordia had seven hits in the first game. Kjelstrom had the only multiple-hit game as he went 2-for-4 and scored two runs from the leadoff spot.

The Cobbers used four pitchers in the opener. Jacoby Nold started the game and lasted 5.0 innings. J Riley Ohm, Carter Thielke and Bergen Bauman followed on the hill for CC.

GAME 2: Concordia 9, St. John's 6
The Cobbers only trailed after the first half inning in the finale and were buoyed by a 6-run second which gave Concordia breathing room for the entire nine innings.

David Dorsey struck again in the bottom of the first when he went yard for a 2-run shot that scored Kjelstrom after Kjelstrom led off the frame with a walk.

Concordia had six hits to plate their six runs in the third. The biggest knock came from senior shortstop Thomas Horan, who banged out a 3-run long ball after Shumansky opened the scoring in the frame with a double to left field. Chance Bye and Thielke were responsible for the other runs. Bye had a run-scoring double and Thielke came through with a sacrifice fly that scored Bye.

It was only fitting that Dorsey finished off the run-scoring parade. He belted his third long ball of the day in the bottom of the eighth to end the 9-6 CC win.

Alex Rudquist, Wyatt Mohr and Kyle Cluff held the Johnnie attack to only the six runs which was a success on a windy day in Moorhead. Rudquist pitched the first 5.0 innings. He gave up five runs on six hits and fanned a pair. Mohr went 2.0 innings and handed the baton to Cluff, who finished the game off to earn his first save of the season. Cluff only allowed one hit and struck out three in the final 2.0 innings.

Dorsey, Shumansky and Bye all had more than one hit in Game 2. Dorsey went 3-for-5 with the two longs balls and drove in three. It was his third 3-hit game of the season.  

DORSEY DOINGS: David Dorsey has hit safely in five straight games and has a .444 average during that stretch. His three homers on the day give him a team-leading four for the year. He also leads the with a .327 batting average and a .538 slugging percentage.

UP NEXT: Concordia will host Mayville State in a 9-inning game on Thursday, Apr. 25 at 3 p.m. The Cobbers were originally scheduled to play Crown in a DH but those games were cancelled.