Gameday Recap

MOORHEAD, Minn. (5/05/08)--Concordia committed 12 errors and was swept 7-2 and 9-3 by No.17-ranked St. Thomas on Monday in Moorhead. The Cobbers allowed six unearned runs on the day as they fell to 14-14 overall and 6-10 in the MIAC. With the two wins the Tommies clinch the outright MIAC regular season championship and improve to 29-7 overall and 18-2 in league play. They also win their eighth straight game and 19th in the past 21 games.

The offensive highlights for the Cobbers on the day came from Brady Harms and Kyle Johnson. Harms hit a solo home run in the first inning of game one and Johnson hit a two-run shot in the fourth inning of game two. The two round-trippers accounted for three of CC's five runs on the day. Johnson went 2-for-3 in the finale after going 0-for-3 in the opener and watching his record-setting 20-game hitting streak come to an end.

The day started off poorly for Concordia and continued to stay as overcast as the weather. The Cobbers gave up four runs in the very first inning of the opener and never recovered. In that fateful first frame, Concordia committed three errors and gave up all four runs before there were even two outs in the inning.

Trailing 4-0, Concordia got one run back in the bottom of the first on Harm's second home run of the season. He was able to turn on a Lonnie Robinson fast ball and hit the ball over the right field fence. That would be one of only three hits for the Cobbers in game one. Robinson was able to retire 14 consecutive batters at point before allowing a second run in the bottom of the seventh inning. Robinson pitched all seven innings and moved his season record to 6-1 on the year. He allowed only three hits and struck out seven.

Concordia starter Adam Johnson didn't last a full inning. He was replaced by Chris Fellows who came on in the first and went 5.0 innings. Fellows did not allow an earned run and gave up only four hits to the high-powered Tommie offense. Matt Green finished off the game for Concordia he went the final 1.2 innings and also did not allow an earned run and conceded only one hit.

St. Thomas outhit Concordia 7-3 in the first game. Catcher Matt Pexa led all UST players as he went 3-for-4 and drove in one run. He was the only Tommie player with more than one hit in the game.

In the second game, Concordia fell behind 3-0 after the third inning when UST scored twice in the second inning and once in the third. The second-inning run production was courtesy of a two-run homer from Louie Salmen. The Tommies widened the gap to 5-0 in the top of the fourth inning when they scored two more runs courtesy of two costly Cobber errors.

Concordia cut the lead to 5-2 in the bottom of the fourth when Kyle Johnson hammered his fifth home run of the season over the right center field fence. CC inched closer in the bottom of the sixth inning when Nick Lewis roped a double to left field that scored Kyle Johnson.

St. Thomas quickly ended all hopes of a comeback when they notched four runs in the top of the seventh inning to claim a 9-3 lead. In the seventh, UST scored four times and once again was aided by the Cobber defensive circus. CC made three errors in the frame to end the day with 12 overall errors and five in the second game.

Concordia was able to get six hits in the finale and was led by Kyle Johnson and Jake Krause who both went 2-for-3. St. Thomas had 12 hits in the second game and had four different players with two hits in the game. Salmen was 1-for-3 with the home run in the second and collected three RBI's for the contest.

Phil Moenkedick started the game for the Cobbers and went the first four innings. He allowed eight hits and four earned runs. Zach Weller came on in the fifth inning and lasted 2.0 innings. He allowed one earned run and two hits. Nick Petro finished of the game for CC and allowed two earned runs on two hits.

Matt Schuld pitched the first four innings for UST and upped his record to 6-2. He gave up four hits and two earned runs. Zach Neubauer and Erik Olson cleaned up the game for St. Thomas and allowed one run and two hits in the final three innings of play.

Concordia will finish off the 2008 season when they host Augsburg on Tuesday, May 6 at 11 a.m. and then play at St. Mary's on Wednesday, May 7.