Gameday Recap

PORT CHARLOTTE, Fla.-- Despite the constant snow falling in the Moorhead area, spring is just around the corner. One of the first signs of spring surfaced on Sunday as the Concordia baseball team kicked off their 2007 season with a single game against Franklin College (Ind.).

The Cobbers allowed a single run in each of the first three innings and then a pair in the third inning and fell 5-3 to the Grizzlies in Port Charlotte, Fla. The game marks the second straight season that Concordia has played the Grizzlies on their spring break trip. Last year CC lost 7-6, allowing three runs in the bottom of the ninth. Sunday's game did not have the dramatic flair as both team's bullpen shut the door on any offensive production past the sixth inning.

Scott Schumacher allowed four earned runs in 3.1 innings of work and was saddled with the loss. Freshman Chris Fellows and junior Anthony Stern combined to pitch 4.2 innings of scoreless baseball in relief. Fellows made his collegiate debut in the fourth inning and promptly picked a runner off second base and then induced a fly ball to left field to get out of the inning. He pitched 2.2 innings, allowed only one hit and struck out one. Stern came on in the seventh inning and retired all six batters he face. Like Fellows, he also struck out one.

Offensively, senior Scott Halupczok and sophomore Erick Sykora had two hits each. Halupczok went 2-for-4 and had a pair of RBI's. He also had a double. Sykora was 2-for-4. Overall, Concordia outhit Franklin 8-6.

The Cobbers will play Johnson & Wales College on Monday, Feb. 26 at 3 p.m. in Port Charlotte, Fla.