Clutch Hits Nowhere To Be Found

STORY LINE: Concordia couldn't come up with the clutch hit, or string hits together, and lost to St. Benedict 5-0, 13-0 in a conference doubleheader in Moorhead. The Cobbers went 0-for-8 with runners in scoring position and only had more than one hit in one inning on the day as they dropped the twinbill to the Bennies.

RECORDS: Concordia falls to 8-24 in all games this year and is 1-17 in the MIAC. St. Benedict wins for the sixth straight game and is now 25-11 overall and 13-7 in league play.

GAME 1 RECAP: Concordia fell behind 1-0 in the top of the first inning and the game remained at 1-0 until the Bennies plated a pair of runs in the fourth and then added two more in the seventh. The Cobbers' best chance to score came in the second inning when they had runners on first and second with only one out. In the very next at-bat the Bennie pitcher sailed a pitch sail that struck the catcher in the top of the helmet and caromed up the first base line. The Concordia runner came around to score all the way from second base on the wild pitch but the umpire ruled that the pitch had struck the Cobber hitter's bat and sent the runners back to second and first where they would be stranded.

The Cobbers had five hits in the opener with Kate Wensloff leading the way by going 2-for-3. Maria Pake, Nicole Johannes and Madison Kostelecky also had base hits for CC. The Cobbers pitching tandem of Cassie Bohnsack and Kelly Riordan held CSB to only six hits and gave up only three earned runs.

GAME 2 RECAP: The second game was deadlocked at 0-0 until the fourth inning when St. Benedict scored two runs in the fourth, one in the fifth, three in the sixth and then exploded for seven runs in the seventh. Concordia starting pitcher Megan Gavin held CSB off the board in the first three frames and only allowed two hits. She finished with five strikeouts in 6.0 innings pitched. Pake was the offensive star in Game 2 as she went 2-for-3 and stole a base. Mikenna Becker came up with a pinch-hit single in the seventh for CC's only other hit.

SLOW STARTERS: Concordia allowed a run in the first inning of the opener and has now been outscored 51-24 in the first innings of games this year. The Cobbers have allowed at least one run in the first inning in seven of the last eight games. The shutout first inning in the second game ended a streak of seven straight games where CC had conceded at least one run in the first inning.

STOLEN BASE CLIMBER: Maria Pake stole a base in each game against the Bennies and now leads the team with 15 on the year. Her season total is seventh best in the MIAC this year and sixth most by a Cobber in a single season.

UP NEXT: Concordia will get the chance to play a non-conference game during the middle of the week. The Cobbers will play at Minn.-Morris on Thursday, Apr. 25. The Cougars are 15-15 on the season.