Mr. 100 Finishes Off Illinois In Style

CAROL STREAM, Ill. (3/26/16)—Concordia put both sides of the diamond together and finished off its 3-game trip to Illinois with a 9-3 win over Edgewood (Wis.).

The Cobbers had seven of their nine starters in the batting order record at least one hit and smashed out 13 total base knocks in the victory. On the other side of the field, the CC pitching staff held the Eagle leadoff hitters to a .222 average and only allowed two earned runs in the nine innings of play.

The win is the first of the weekend for Concordia and brings their overall season record to 8-6. Edgewood loses for the third straight game and is now 4-8.

Concordia's offense set the tone for the game in the top of the first inning. CC scored a single run in the first and then backed that up with two more in the second and one in the third to spring to a 4-1 lead after three frames.

The Cobbers would add one more in the fifth and then post a pair of two-run innings in the seventh and ninth to finish off the scoring.

Concordia had five of the six extra base knocks in the game. Joe Hallock hit a two-run homer in the second and Tim Carlson's second double of the game started the two-run ninth inning. Hallock's blast in the second was his first career long ball and only the third of the season for CC.   

Carlson also had an RBI single in the fifth inning and drove in four of the team's nine runs on the day.

Ross Merriman started the game on the hill for Concordia and pitched the first five innings. He allowed three hits, one earned run and struck out four. Merriman retired11 of the final 13 batters he faced to earn his second win of the season and lower his ERA to 4.24. Edgewood hitters hit just .176 off of Merriman for the game.

Tanner Kluis pitched the final four innings of the game and also gave up only one earned run. He didn't allow an extra base hit and struck out a pair.

MR. 100
Senior Tim Carlson reached a big milestone in the third inning when he doubled to left-center field. The hit was the 100th of Carlson's career. Carlson finished the game by going 3-for-4 with four RBI and a run scored. He now has 101 career hits in his collegiate career. He becomes the 13th Cobber player since 2000 to surpass the 100-hit mark. Carlson has a .339 average and has 27 doubles and 72 RBI.

COBBER 100-HIT LIST SINCE 2000
1. 147 - Michael Olson - 2011-14
2. 140 - Kyle Johnson - 2006-09
3. 137 - Jake Krause - 2007-10
4. 137 - Ryan Hebrink - 2001-04
5. 136 - Derek Dormanen - 2000-03
6. 136 - Chris Klabo - 2004-07
7. 132 - Phil Kuball - 2013-16
8. 130 - Devin Johnson - 2013-15
9. 124 - Chad Felstul - 2000-02
10. 120 - Michael Carlson - 2008-11
11. 113 - B.Schumacher - 2004-06
12. 102 - Dan Wackler - 2008-11
13. 101 - Tim Carlson - 2013-16  

SIXTH-INNING SOOTHSAYER
The sixth inning has been the "make or break" mark for the Cobbers this season. Concordia is 7-1 when they are leading after the sixth frame in games this season. Unfortunately, Concordia is 0-5 when they trail after six innings of play.

DOUBLE-DIGIT DOINGS
Concordia recorded 13 hits against Edgewood which marks the second straight game that CC has recorded at least 10 hits in a game. The Cobbers have now had double-digit hit totals in half their games this season (7-of-14). Last year Concordia posted at least 10 hits in a remarkable 72.9% of its games.

WHAT'S NEXT
Concordia will return home to face Jamestown on Monday at 2 p.m. The game might get turned into a doubleheader which would start at 1 p.m. The final word on the game schedule will come late Saturday night. The Jimmies are currently 26-1 on the season and were picked to finish second in the North Star Athletic Conference.