MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/25/06)-- Concordia was dealt an unfortunate turn of events in the final stages of their second game with Carleton and were forced to split their series with the Knights on Tuesday in Moorhead.

After winning the opener 6-2, the Cobbers gave up a pair of runs to tie the game in the sixth inning and then the winning run in the ninth inning and lost the nightcap 4-3. The winning run for Carleton was scored on a wild pitch as Concordia was attempting to intentionally walk one of the Knights batters to set up a force play. The maneuver backfired and Carleton scored the winning run and held off Concordia in the bottom of the inning to come away with the split.

The Cobbers now move to 8-12 in league play and 13-19 overall with one series left to play in the season. Carleton picks up its fifth win in the MIAC and is now 5-13 in the conference and 11-21 overall.

Lindy Sparby pitched all 16 innings for the Cobbers on the day. The senior, making her last appearance at the Jake Christiansen Athletic Complex gave up six hits and struck out four in the first game to pick up her eighth win of the year. She allowed single runs in the second and sixth innings and in between retired nine consecutive batters.

She was cruising in the second game as well until a pair of runs, one of which was unearned, in the sixth inning forced the extra innings of work. In the nightcap she gave up only two earned runs and seven hits as her record fell to 8-11 on the year.

In the first game, Concordia did most of its damage in the third and fifth innings. In the pivotal third inning, the Cobbers scored three unearned runs to take a 4-1 lead in the game. The big blow in the frame came from Amanda Johnson who single home two runs as she collected two of her four RBI's in the game. Johnson struck again in the fifth inning when she hammered a pitch over the center field wall to give the Cobbers a commanding 6-1 lead. For Johnson it was her team-leading sixth roundtripper. She finished the game by going 2-for-2 with four RBI's and two runs scored. She was the only Cobber to collect more than one hit in the game.

The second game appeared to be headed in the same direction as the first. Concordia opened the scoring with single runs in the second and third innings and Sparby continued to be solid on the mound. The Knights go one back in the fourth before Concordia added another run in the bottom of the inning after a leadoff triple by freshman Jill Reinert.

The turning point in the game was the sixth inning when Carleton scored the two runs to tie the game and put new life back into their step.

Offensively, both teams had seven hits in the second game. Amanda Michaelson and Sparby had two-hit games for the Cobbers and Rhemi Abrams-Fuller was the only Knight with more than one hit in the game.

Carleton pitcher Mari Jo Long continually worked out of jams to earn her sixth win of the year. She allowed only two earned runs and struck out eight.

Concordia will finish the 2006 season when they play at Hamline on Saturday, Apr. 29 at 1:00pm.