Gameday Game Recap

MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/19/06)-- The 2006 Chinese New Year is the Year of the Dog. The 2006 Concordia baseball New Year is the Year of the Split. For the fifth consecutive series and ninth time in their past ten doubleheaders, the Cobbers won a game and lost a game and came away with not losing anmy ground in the MIAC playoff race and also not gaining any ground.

Concordia used a thrilling six-run rally in the final two innings of game 1 to erase a 7-2 deficit and come away with an 8-7 victory. Unfortunately, the momentum gained in the final inning of game 1 did not carry over into the second game and Concordia was drilled 12-1 behind the 17-hit attack of the Gusties.

The split keeps the Cobber conference and overall record flatlined two games under the .500 mark. Concordia is now 5-7 in league pay and 13-15 overall. With the crucial sweep-saving win in the second game, Gustavus keeps their conference record level at 5-5. They are now 15-10 overall.

Concordia freshman catcher Kyle Johnson led the Cobbers in hitting on the day. He hammered every pitch that he faced and came away with four hits on the day. He went 3-for-4 in the opener and could have had a pair of home runs if the wind was not blowing in at the regular Red River Valley gust level.

Wade Vrieze let his bat do the talking for Gustavus. He came away with a pair of multiple-hit games and finished with a series-high five hits. He went 2-for-4 with a pair of RBI's in the first game and backed it up with a 3-for-4 performance in the nightcap. He scored three runs in the second game and also finished with four extra-base hits on the day.

In the opener, Concordia took a 2-0 lead in the bottom of the third before Gustavus exploded for a touchdown in the top of the fourth inning. In the seven-run fourth, the Gusties scored seven runs on five hits and were the recipients of two costly Cobber errors.

The game remained at 7-2 in favor of Gustavus until the bottom of the sixth inning. Gustie starter Anders Schmidt, who came into the game 2-0 with 15 strikeouts in 12 innings pitched in his last two outings against the Cobbers,  began to tire and gave up three runs on three hits. Gustavus returned the fourth-inning favor by handing the Cobbers an extra run after a two-out error.

In the bottom of the seventh, Ryan Emter led off the inning with a double for the Cobbers. Junior Chris Klabo traded places with Emter after a double and Schmidt gave way to Josh Spitzak. Spitzak was greeted by a single from Brian Schumacher that scored Klabo and then another base hit from Kyle Johnson that sent Schumacher to second base. Matt Youngquist laid down a perfect sacrifice bunt that moved the runners up to second and third.


Gustavus decided to intentionally walk Scott Halupczok to load the bases and set up a force play at any base. With the infield drawn in to cut down the runner at the plate, Brian Knoblauch laced a one-strike pitch through the right side of the infield to score Schumacher and give Concordia the victory.

Concordia freshman pitcher Matt Venturini came on in relief in the fourth inning and pitched 3.1 solid innings to pick up his first collegiate victory. Venturini allowed four hits and no runs. Spitzak was handed his fourth loss of the season after officially pitching 0.1 innings.

The second game turned sour for the Cobbers in the second inning and then really went south in the sixth inning. The Gusties eased their way to a 3-0 lead in the top of the third inning. Concordia got a run back in the bottom of the inning when a Brian Schumacher single scored Erick Sykora from third.

Trailing only 3-1 heading into the top of the sixth, the Cobbers were looking to duplicate some of the first-game magic but that notion was quickly laid to rest when Gustavus scored six times in the sixth and then three more in the seventh.


The Gusties laced out 17 hits in the second game and finished the series with 27.


Cobber starting pitcher Tieg Herman pitched the first 5.1 innings and was handed his second loss of the year. Spitzek returned to the mound for the Gusties and pitched a complete game to move his record to 5-4 on the year. He allowed just one earned run and only six hits.

Concordia will head out of town to take on Augsburg on Saturday, Apr. 22 at 1:00pm in Minneapolis, Minn.