Cobber Baseball History

First Year of Baseball: 1920
All-Time Record: 274-337 (71 seasons) (Missing records for 1968, 1973, 1974, 1975)
All-Time MIAC Record: 426-289
Years in Postseason Play: 8

Last Postseason Appearance/Result
2005; L 6-9 vs. Augsburg (MIAC Tournament)
All-Time Postseason Record: 6-16
All-Time MIAC Playoff Tournament Record: 2-8
Years in MIAC Tournament/Streak: 4/0

Cobber Baseball Information
2006 Record: 20-17
Home: 7-6
Away: 8-6
Neutral: 5-5
2006 MIAC Record: 11-9 (6th Place)
Home: 5-5
Away: 6-4
Lettermen Returning/Lost: 18/9
Starters Returning/Lost: 7/6

2007 Top Returning Players:
Chris Klabo

Led the team in slugging percentage (.594), home runs (7) and RBIs (33) in 2006; fourth in the MIAC in RBIs and home runs; 22 career home runs.
Ryan Emter

Third on the team in hitting in 2006 with a .353 average; 2-year starter in center field
Kevin Engebretson

Led the team in games started and appearances in 2006; 15 starts in past two seasons

OUTLOOK

Young and exciting. Those will be two of the words used to describe the 2007 Concordia baseball team. Two other words will be inexperienced and inconsistent. The Cobbers have 12 freshmen on their opening day roster which is the most since the 1987 season when they had 14. Of the 12 freshmen listed on the 2007 roster, seven are pitchers which will give long-time head coach Bucky Burgau a chance to mold a pitching staff for the future. Burgau, who is entering his 29th season at the helm of Concordia, will be called on to blend a talented freshman class with a group of upperclassmen that showed glimpses of outstanding play in 2006.

Last season the Cobbers missed the MIAC playoffs for the first time in four seasons and only the second time in the seven-year history of the conference tournament. In order to get back to the postseason, Concordia will have to use their 14 games before the start of the MIAC season as an abbreviated college baseball learning curve for the freshman and then hope the pitching staff will be up to speed once the home-opener against Bethel arrives on Mar. 31.

AT THE PLATE

Concordia will return several top players from last year’s squad that was only two games shy of the conference tournament. Power–hitting outfielder Chris Klabo (Sr., Brainerd, Minn.) returns for a final season after leading CC in slugging percentage (.594), home runs (7) and RBIs (33) in 2006. Klabo, who was an MIAC Honorable mention selection in 2005, was also fourth in the MIAC in RBI’s. He will be called on to provide one of the lone deep treats to the Cobber offense.

Fellow senior outfielder Ryan Emter (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson HS) will once again give Concordia one of the top defensive centerfielders in the league. Emter’s ability to track down balls in either gap, will give the Cobber pitching staff the confidence they need in conference play. He finished with a perfect fielding percentage with 70 putouts and two assists last season and has not made an error in his last 49 games heading into the 2007 season. Emter also upped his offensive production in 2006. He hit a career-best .353 last year and finished third on the team in hitting.

Other top returning starting players from last year include first baseman Scott Halupczok (Sr., St. Cloud, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral HS) and second baseman Erick Sykora (So., Rapid City, S.D./Stevens HS). Halupczok is a solid fielding first baseman who hit .278 last year and started all 37 games for the Cobbers. He was also named to the 2005 MIAC All-Tournament Team. Sykora is another outstanding defensive player. His range at second base will give Concordia one of the best left side defenses in the league. He hit .255 in his first year as a collegiate player but started to come on at the end of the season.

Joining those three mainstays in the CC lineup from 2006 will be senior Brian Knoblauch (St. Clous, Minn./St. Cloud Cathedral), junior Matt Youngquist (Brooklyn Park, Minn./Champlin Park HS) and sophomore Kyle Johnson (Cambridge, Minn./Cambridge-Isanti HS). Knoblauch will get the call in right field. He is another solid outfielder than can occasionally provide pop with his bat. Youngquist will make the move to third base after spending last season as one of the team’s outfielders. He has shown improvement at the plate, hitting .273 in the team’s first 14 games of 2007 after hitting just .222 last year. Johnson, who is one of four players on the team with the same last name, will be the team’s starting catcher. He improved steadily throughout last season and should be one of the team’s top offensive and defensive players. He currently leads the team in hitting in 2007 with a .370 average after the pre-conference schedule.

Several freshman position players could also crack the Cobber lineup in 2007. The top first-year prospect is Jake Krause (Moorhead, Minn.) whose speed and athleticism will give CC a legitimate leadoff hitter. Krause hit .294 in the team’s first 14 games of the year and has made only three errors in 54 chances as the team’s starting shortstop. His speed will also help lead a resurgence of the Cobber base stealing attack.

ON THE MOUND

The biggest question mark for the Cobbers will come from the pitching staff. Senior Kevin Engebretson (Alexandria, Minn./Jefferson HS) is the only returning starter from a year ago. He led the team in appearances in games started in 2006 and finished with a 4.06 ERA. The two-year varsity member has made 15 starts in the past two seasons. Joining Engebretson as the team’s No.1 and No.2 starters will be sophomore Scott Schumacher. Schumacher, the younger brother of CC standout Brian Schumacher, made only four appearances in his freshman season and will be helped by his conversion to being just a pitcher for the upcoming campaign.

After Engebretson and Schumacher, Burgau will rely on his seven freshmen and a trio of upperclassmen to help add the depth. The team’s closer role will go to Adam Johnson (Pelican Rapids, Minn.) who has posted a 3.77 ERA in his first seven appearances in 2007 and has picked up a pair of saves. Potential starters include Anthony Stern (Jr., Willmar, Minn.), Darrin Carlson (So., Murdock, Minn./K-W-S HS) and freshman Matt Green (Dilworth, Minn./D-G-F HS). All three have shown potential to eat up innings as the team’s No.3 and No.4 starting pitchers or coming out of the bullpen during the long MIAC season. After that, only time will tell which young pitchers will be able to adapt to the college game the quickest.

The 2007 Cobber baseball team will have the potential to finish in the hunt for another conference tournament appearance or they could be building a strong foundation for a push towards the top of the MIAC in years to come. Either way, this should prove to be one of the most exciting years of baseball in recent history.

2007 MIAC PRESEASON COACHES POLL
Four-time reigning MIAC regular season champion St. Thomas earned the top spot in the preseason poll this year. The Tommies received eight first place votes and beat out 2006 MIAC Playoff champ St. Olaf (three first place votes) for first place in the poll. MIAC conference baseball games begin Saturday, March 31.

The top four teams in the regular season will earn a place in the MIAC Playoffs held May 11-13 in Dundas and Northfield.
1. St. Thomas (8)
2. St. Olaf (3)
3. Gustavus
4. Hamline
5. Concordia
6. Bethel
7. Saint John's
8. Augsburg
9. Macalester
10. Carleton
11. Saint Mary's