Gameday Recap

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/28/09)--Concordia's slow start in the first game against St. John's on Tuesday might have cost the Cobbers a shot at the MIAC playoffs. CC went scoreless through their first five innings against the Johnnies and wound up losing the opener 8-5. Concordia then jumped on SJU in the third inning of the nightcap and cruised to a 9-1 win.

The split takes away the Cobbers' safety net in the conference they are now 7-9 in league play and are forced to win their four remaining MIAC games to have any shot at all of making the postseason. Concordia is now 14-13 overall. The Johnnies move to 11-19 overall and 6-12 in the league.

Once again Cobber catcher Kyle Johnson's power posted the biggest highlight of the day. On Saturday, Johnson hit a mammoth three-run home run to win the game against St. Mary's. On Tuesday Johnson belted another three-run shot but this time it was for personal glory as the long ball broke the school record for home runs in a single season. Johnson now has 12 HR's in 2009, breaking the old mark of 11 set by Ryan Hebrink in 2004.

Johnson's dinger against St. John's came in the seventh inning of the opener and fit under the category of - too little, too late. By then the Cobbers were behind 8-2 and were unable to erase the entire six-run deficit.

Concordia was unable to score in the first five innings against SJU starter Andrew Aebly. While Aebly kept the Cobbers at bay, the SJU offense scored twice in the second inning and then three more times in the fourth to take control of the opener.

The second game was an entirely different story. Concordia was the ones who received a stellar pitching performance and put up a crooked number in the first few innings. Sophomore Jake Torrison pitched his first collegiate complete game, keeping St. John's off the board until the seventh inning. He allowed only five hits and two walks in the seven innings of work. At one time he retired eight straight hitters and from the second through the fifth inning faced the minimum number of batters.

Torrison's gem gave the Cobbers the confidence to overcome a pair of scoreless innings to start the game. CC's offense finally got on track in the third inning when they scored five runs on four hits. The biggest hit came from Taylor Sannes who knocked a single to score two runs.

Concordia then added one more run in the fifth and three more in the sixth to take a 9-0 lead into the last frame.

Johnson finished the day by going 3-for-6 with four RBI. Scott Schumacher continued his late-season tear. The Cobber first baseman had a pair of multiple hit games and extended his hitting streak to 11 games. Schumacher went 5-for-8 in the series with four runs scored and two RBI. Nick Lewis was the only other Cobber player to have more than two hits on the day. He was 2-for-2 in the second-game win and went 3-for-5 on the day with three runs scored.

Concordia will take a break from MIAC action when they play at UND on Saturday, May 2 at 1 p.m. The Cobbers will then finish off the regular season by playing at Augsburg on Monday and hosting Carleton on Tuesday.