MINNEAPOLIS, Minn. (3/19/10)-- For the second straight doubleheader Concordia faced a team with the nickname the Eagles. And for the second straight doubleheader the Cobbers split with the Eagles. Concordia rallied for six runs in the sixth inning of the first game against UW-La Crosse on Friday and rallied to win 6-5. CC then allowed at least one run in three straight innings in the nightcap and lost 4-1.

The split pushes the Cobbers' overall record to 6-4 on the season. The win in the first game now brings head coach Bucky Burgau's career win total at Concordia to 594. He needs just six more wins to become the 20th active DIII coach to reach 600 wins and the 32nd in the history of DIII baseball.

Once again the Cobber starting pitching tandem of Chris Fellows and Eddie Massee pitched deep into the game and gave Concordia a chance to win. In the opener, Fellows pitched the first innings, struck out four and picked up his team-leading third win of the season. Massee backed that up in the second game by hurling five frames and allowing just four hits. Fellows and Massee have pushed the CC bullpen to the brink of extinction as they have combined to start six games this season and have pitched in 33 of the 41 total innings. The pair are now 5-1 on the year.

The first game came down to the bottom of the sixth inning. Concordia came to bat trailing 5-0 and were in desperate need of putting together a big inning. What started out slowly turned into a six-run, eight-hit, four-stolen base effort that plated five runs with two outs in the inning. Michael Carlson led off with a triple and then scored on an Adam Johnson single. After Nick Lewis singled to send Johnson to third base, he was then doubled off of first base after Tony Emmerich hit a scorching line drive to second base. Nate Haase then hit a pinch-hit double that plated Johnson and the next four batters hit singles and advanced into scoring position on a stolen base. That combination produced four runs and gave CC a dramatic 6-5 lead heading into the top of the seventh.

Concordia's new-found closer Ryan Johnson entered the game in the top of the seventh and got three outs from the first three hitters in the inning. He gave up a leadoff single but then induced the next batter to pop up a sacrifice bunt attempt and turned it into a 5-3 double play. Johnson then fanned the next hitter to pick up his second save of the year.

The second game turned in the fourth inning for the Cobbers. Concordia scored a single run in the third inning but then watched as the Eagles plated a pair of runs in the fourth, one in the fifth and then one more in the sixth.

Massee cruised through the first three innings for CC, allowing just two hits. In the fourth he gave up a pair of doubles that scored two runs. The run in the fifth inning was unearned. He then gave way to Andy Erickson in the sixth who allowed the final run of the game.

Concordia could only muster two hits in the finale against hard throwing Tim Larson of UW-La Crosse. Larson pitched all seven innings and struck out seven.

Cobber junior Dan Wackler produced the lone RBI in the game for CC. He was also 3-for-4 in the opener and finished the night by going 3-for-6 with two RBI and two stolen bases. As a team the Cobbers stole six bases in the first game and finished the doubleheader with seven steals. CC now has 32 stolen bases in their first 10 games of the season. That total is 11 more than they had in their 33 total games last season. The school record for stolen bases in a single season is 64 set in 1984.

The Cobbers will once again stay overnight and play back-to-back doubleheaders in the Dome. CC will face Wartburg on Saturday, Mar. 13 at 5 p.m. They will then finish off the inside portion of their schedule when they play the University of Minnesota in a nine-inning game on Mar. 31.