Bats Go Silent In Florida Finale

CLERMONT, Fla. (3/02/18)---Concordia finished off their annual spring break trip by dropping a pair of games to Midwest teams. The Cobbers lost 5-3 to Milwaukee School of Engineering (Wis.) and the 5-0 to Adrian (Mich.).

The two losses drop Concordia's record to 3-7 in Florida. CC was at .500 on Tuesday but then four straight defeats puts the Cobbers at a .300 clip heading back to Minnesota.

Concordia scored all their runs on Friday in the second inning of the first game. The Raiders took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the first then the Cobbers stormed back to take a 3-1 lead in the top of the second frame.

Madi Veith led off the inning with a single and then came all the way around to score on a double from Sydney Roberts in the very next at-bat. Cora Zackrison would then plate Roberts when she pounded a two-out fastball over the fence for her first collegiate home run.

Milkwaukee School of Engineering (5-2) would cut into the lead in the third when they scored a single run. The Raiders tied the game in the fifth before taking the lead with two runs on two hits in the sixth.

The Cobbers had a chance to extend the lead in the top of sixth but they were unable to get a run after loading the bases with only one out in the inning.

MSOE held an 8-7 edge in hits in the game. Roberts and Kayla Nack each had two base knocks in the first game of the day.

Freshman Megan Gavin went the distance in the circle. She gave up eight hits and five runs while striking out five.

The second game was a case of "atom balls" for the Cobbers. Adrian's pitcher threw a perfect game but only struck out four in the seven innings. Concordia put the ball in play 17 times and had 10 fly outs and seven ground outs but nothing could find an open patch of grass.

The Bulldogs scored two runs in the first and seventh innings and added a single run in the sixth frame to earn the five-run victory.

Senior Abby Haraldson had more K's in the game than the Adrian pitcher as she struck out six. However, she allowed six hits and three earned runs.

CLOSE TO THE K QUEEN: The six strikeouts for Abby Haraldson against Adrian brings her career total to 369 which is two shy of the school's all-time career strikeout record of 371 set by Erin Gunderson from 1999-02.

FLORIDA FACTS: Sophomore Elizabeth Asp led the team in hitting in Florida. She finished the trip with a .367 average and hit safely in five of the 10 games. She also had a team-best four extra base hits with three doubles and a triple.  

Junior Nicole Johannes had a higher batting average than Asp in the Sunshine State but only appeared in six games due to a lower leg injury. She hit .471 in her six games and clouted one of the team's two home runs.

PITCHING DEPTH: Concordia has a unique situation in their pitching crew. The Cobbers have three solid pitchers who all saw extended time in the circle in Florida. Abby Haraldson, Megan Gavin and Brynn Sundgaard all threw at least 15 innings on the trip and all three posted an ERA under 4.00. Haraldson led the trio with 30.0 innings pitched, a 3.50 ERA with 22 K's and a .280 opponent batting average. Gavin was right behind with a 3.63 ERA and 17 strike outs in 17.1 innings of work. However, hitters only had a .224 average against Gavin. Sundgaard pitched in three games and worked 16.0 innings. She finished with a 3.94 ERA.

WHAT'S NEXT: Concordia will have a 19-day break before returning to the playing field. The Cobbers will host a two-day slate of games on Mar. 21-22 at the West St. Paul Dome in the Twin Cities. CC will play Bethany Lutheran and Bemidji State on Wednesday, Mar. 21 and then Finlandia and Bemidji State on Thursday, Mar. 22.