Gameday Recap

WINONA, Minn. (5/07/08)-- Concordia used a pair of seventh-inning rallies to sweep St. Mary's 6-4 and 7-6 on Wednesday in Winona and finish the season with four straight wins.

The Cobbers scored two runs in the top of the seventh inning in the first game to unlock a 4-4 tie and then in the nightcap Concordia scored four times in the final inning to erase a 5-3 deficit and win by one. The two victories close out CC's season at 18-14 overall and 10-10 in the MIAC. It marks the 16th time in the past 18 years that Concordia has won at least 16 games in a season.

The games were a 180-degree turn from last season when St. Mary's used two seventh-inning rallied to down the Cobbers. This time it was Concordia that held the late-game magic as they won for only the fourth time this season when trailing or tied heading into the seventh inning.

Concordia sophomore third baseman Tyler Doll came up with clutch hits in both of the seventh innings. In the first game he singled home Scott Schumacher to give the Cobbers a 6-4 lead. In the second game he doubled down the left field line that scored the sixth and seventh runs for Concordia - one of which would be the eventual game-winning score. For the series, Doll was 2-for-4 with four RBI's.

In the first game, Concordia scored a single run in the first inning when Nick Lewis came home on a balk. The Cardinals scored three times in the bottom of the second inning. The Cobbers matched the three-spot with three of their own in the top of the fifth to take a 4-3 lead. SMU would tie the game at 4-4 in the bottom of the fifth and that would set the stage for the first seventh inning heroics.

Concordia used three pitchers in the first game. Jake Torrison made his fifth start of the season and lasted 3.1 innings. Eddie Massee, pitching in his second straight game, came on in the fourth inning and pitched the next 1.2 innings. He allowed only one hit and struck out three to earn the win. Massee got out of a huge jam in the fourth inning. With the game tied and two runners on base, Massee came into the game with only one out and proceeded to strike out the next two batters. Adam Johnson relieved Massee in the bottom of the sixth inning and pitched the final six outs and earned his first save of the year. Johnson did not allow a hit in the two innings of work.

Offensively, Concordia outhit SMU 11-5 in the opener. Three different CC players had at least two hits. Lewis was 2-for-3 and scored a run and drove in a run. Schumacher went 2-for-4 and scored two runs and had one RBI. Kyle Johnson led all players as he went 3-for-4 and scored two runs.

The second game was another see-saw affair. The Cobbers took a 3-0 lead in the top of the second inning when Matt Youngquist drove in two runs. He went on to finish the game with three RBI's. St. Mary's scored once in the third and then took the lead behind four runs in the fifth inning. Concordia would finish the game by scoring four times in the seventh before the Cardinals plated one in the bottom of the inning to come within one at 7-6. Cobber reliever Nick Petro was able to get one of the SMU hitters to line into a double play to finish the game off.

Like the opener, Concordia used three pitchers in the finale. Andrew Skow-Anderson opened the game and pitched the first 4.0 innings. He gave up three earned runs. Freshman Phil Monekedick recorded the win in the game by pitching the middle 2.1 innings. He allowed two earned runs and struck out three to pick up his first collegiate victory. Petro took over in the sevrnth inning and collected his third save of the year.

Both teams had nine hits in the second game. Youngquist led both teams with three hits in the game. He went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs and scored one. Jake Krause was the only other CC player with more than one hit. He was 2-for-4 and finished the season by hitting .301. Kyle Johnson finished off his MVP-type season by going 1-for-2. He ended the year by hitting .507 in MIAC games and hitting safely in 19 of the 20 league games.