Milestone Split

MANKATO, Minn. (3/09/21)---Concordia split its third consecutive non-conference doubleheader to start the season as they beat Bethany Lutheran 4-1 in the opener on Tuesday and then dropped the second game 10-5.

Senior Megan Gavin provided the milestone highlight for the afternoon. She fanned 12 batters in the first game to push her career strikeout total past the 300 mark. She becomes only the fourth pitcher in Concordia history to surpass the 300-strikeout plateau.

Gavin was also the only Cobber player to have a base hit in each game against the Vikings. She went 1-for-3 in Game 1 and was 1-for-1 in the finale.

GAME 1 RECAP: Concordia fell behind in the bottom of the first. Bethany Lutheran scored their only run of the game on a walk, stolen base and then a triple to center field. It would be one of only two innings in the game where BLC had a runner advance past first base.

The Cobbers tied the game at 1-1 in the top of the second when sophomore Molly Wilde posted a 2-out single that played Valerie Kostad after Kostad led off the inning with a single to left field and then advanced to second on a ground out.    

Concordia won the game in the sixth when they scored three times on four hits. CC loaded the bases after Hannah Wilke started the frame with a single up the middle. Riley Bergstrom came into the game to pinch run and advanced to second on a sacrifice bunt from Kenzie Leither. Kolsrad walked and then Gavin singled to load the bases. Senior Taylor Erholtz came up with the game-winning RBI when she singled down the left-field line to score Bergstrom. Wilde plated he second run of the inning on a sacrifice fly to left and Ellie Tofteland capped the 3-run sixth with a single that scored Gavin.

Gavin's only other spot of trouble in the game came in the fourth when the Vikings put runner on second and third after consecutive singles and an infield ground out. Gavin then did what she does best and sat the next two hitters down with strikeouts.

Gavin finished the game by facing one over the minimum number of batters in the final three innings. She finished the day by striking out 12, allowing only four hits and a single earned run.

Concordia outhit Bethany Lutheran 7-4 in the game. All of CC's hits were singles. Kolstad was the only CC player with more than one hit in the opener. She went 2-for-3 with a run scored. Wilde had her first multiple-RBI game for the Cobbers. She went 1-for-2 and drove in two runs.

GAME 2 RECAP: Concordia carried the momentum from the win in the opener over to the top of first inning in Game 2. They scored three runs on a pair of hits. Freshman Landry Maragos led off the nightcap with the only extra-base hit of the day for CC. She doubled to right field went to third on back-to-back walks from Amy Quast and Leither. Maragos scored on a wild pitch which also moved the other two runners up a base. Quast came home on a ground out by Kolstad and Leither scored when Gavin connected on a 1-out single to left field.

The Vikings got to within one at 3-2 when they scored twice in the bottom of the first. They took their first lead of the day in the third after scoring two more times to push the total on the board to 4-3.

Concordia retook the lead in the fourth when they put up their second crooked number inning of the game. The big hit of the inning came from the bat of sophomore Drew Syverson who plated Wilde and Gavin with a 2-out single.

The game turned for the Cobbers in the bottom of the fourth. BLC started a 6-run unanswered streak by scoring four times in the bottom of the inning. They upped the lead to 10-5 with two more runs in the sixth.

The Vikings outhit the Cobbers 9-5 in Game 2. Quast was the only multiple-hit batter for CC. She went 2-for-3 and scored a run.

K KOUNT: Gavin has posted double-digit strikeout totals in each of her first two starts of the year. She has 29 Ks for the year and 306 for her Cobber career. She is fourth on the all-time strikeout list for Concordia. She is chasing Kesley Jones who is third with 333 strikeouts and Erin Gunderson who is No.2 on the list at 371. The Cobber career record holder is Abby Haraldson who amassed 440 Ks from 2014-18.

ALL SHE DOES IS DRIVE IN RUNS: Syverson posted her second multiple-RBI game of the year. She leads the team in that category and has a team-best four RBI. Syverson only has two hits on the year and both times she drove in two runs.

SHE PITCHES AND SHE HITS: Gavin, who missed the opening DH of the year because of a student-teaching commitment, has hit safely in the three games she has been to the plate this year. She leads the team in hitting with a .500 average and has a .667 on-base percentage for the year.

UP NEXT: Concordia will play Wis.-Superior in a doubleheader on Friday, Mar. 12 at the Dundas Dome in Dundas, Minn. The DH will start at 2:00.

RECAP SPONSOR: Today's recap sponsor is Red River Trails. Red River Trails is the official bus company of Cobber athletics and has provided this service for over 30 years.