Gameday Game Recap

NORTHFIELD, Minn. (5/2/06)-- Concordia picked the perfect time to come up with its first conference sweep of the season as the Cobbers beat Carleton 5-1, 10-5 in Northfield on Tuesday to remain in the thick of the MIAC playoff hunt.

Blake Trenbeath threw a three-hitter in the first game to earn the win and Adam Padrnons allowed just one hit in the final six innings to pick up the victory in game 2 for Concordia. Both senior pitchers went the distance and allowed the Cobbers to push their overall record over the .500 mark for the first time since the 15th game of the season. Concordia also evened its conference mark at .500 which pushes them past St. John's and into the top six in the league. The Cobbers are now 17-16 overall and 8-8 in league play.

Carleton is the victim of untimely errors and the big inning and falls to 5-11 in the MIAC and 9-21 overall.

In the opener, Trenbeath held the Knights scoreless until the seventh inning as he allowed single hits in the first, third and seventh innings. At one point during the game he retired 11 consecutive Carleton batters. He did not allow a Carleton runner to reach second base until he gave up an unearned run in the final frame. For the game he struck out only two hitters but was able to not allow the Carleton offense to hit the ball hard.

Trenbeath earned his team-leading sixth win of the season and dropped his ERA to a Greg Maddux-like 1.86.

Offensively, the Cobbers did its damage in the fifth and sixth innings. Concordia broke open the scoreless tie in the fifth inning when they scored a pair of unearned runs on two hits and one costly defensive error. The Cobbers tacked on three more in the sixth inning. Carleton commtited another costly error and allowed Concordia to score three unearned runs.

In the game, Concordia outhit the Knights 5-3 and neither team collected an extra-base hit. Senior shortstop Billy DeNet was the only Cobber to record more than one hit in the game. The toothless wonder went 2-for-4, scored a run and drove in another.

The second game started with a bang as Concordia scored twice in the top of the first and Carleton countered with a five-spot in the bottom of the inning. The Cobbers scored both their runs off of three doubles in the inning. The Knights roughed up Padrnos early. The scored five runs and knocked out five hits as they batted nine hitters in the inning.

Given a long leash by head coach Bucky Burgau, Padrnos settled into the game in the bottom of the second inning and only allowed one more hit for the remainder of the contest. He retired 14 consecutive hitters from the last out in the first inning until there was one out in the sixth inning. He finished the game by allowing four earned runs on six hits and picked up his second win of the year.

Trailing 5-2, Concordia used a monster, eight-run fifth inning to run away with the game. In the fifth, the Cobbers had eight hits and had 14 hitters come to the plate. All eight runs were scored without the benefit of an extra-base hit.

DeNet continued his hot streak by going a perfect 4-for-4 in the second game with two runs scored and a lone RBI. he now leads the team with a .394 average and has hit safely in the last four game and 13 of the past 15. His pair of multiple-hit games ups his season total to 15.

Chris Klabo added a pair of hits from the No. 3 spot in the batting order, while senior co-captain Brian Schumacher finished off a 3-for-8 day by going 2-for-4 with two RBIs in the game. Schumacher also ran his hitting streak to nine games. Freshman catcher Michael Hinde, who was pressed into duty because of a bout of mononucleosis to starting backstop Kyle Johnson, made the most of the opportunity by going 2-for-4  with a runs scored and an RBI. Cobber starting center fielder Ryan Emter went 3-for-6 on the day, running his hitting streak to five games. He did not commit an error in the field and has now played in 41 consecutive games without committing a miscue.

Concordia will turn around and host St. Mary's on Wednesday, May 3 at 1:00pm. The Cobbers will most likely need to win its four remaining games to earn a spot in the conference tournament.