MOORHEAD- On Saturday April 15 the baseball team hosted Bethel for a pair of afternoon games at Bucky Burgau Field. The Cobbers entered the day with a 5-3 MIAC record looking to improve their standing in the conference and stay ahead of Bethel with a 4-4 conference recod.
In the first game, the Cobbers fell behind 2-0 in the second inning when the Royals hit a home run off of starting pitcher, first-year Grant Anderson. Bethel followed it up with another home run in the third inning to put them up 5-0. The score stayed that way for the remainder of the game as the Cobbers could not get any runs on the board, and only managed three hits all game.
The second game started off on a different note when the Cobbers scored in the bottom of the first inning on a single from freshman designated hitter Ben Shumansky. However, that was as good as it got for the Concordia batters, as they couldn’t drive in another run the rest of the game.
Bethel got on the board in the second inning scoring a run against starting pitcher sophomore Carter Thielke. In the top of the third Bethel scored two more runs after an error in the outfield allowed the runners to advance.
The game score stayed still at 3-1 heading into the 9 inning however Bethel broke the game open after a three-run home run off Concordia freshman Wyatt Mohr. The Cobbers were unable to mount a comeback in the bottom of the 9th as they fell to the Royals 6-1.
The offensive production for Concordia improved slightly in the second game, scoring one run on nine hits, however it still wasn’t enough to get the job done.
Back-to-back defeats put the Cobbers conference record at 5-5 and their overall record at 8-16.
“I think we put some good swings on some balls, but their pitchers’ made pitches in the right moments when they needed them the most,” junior first baseman, Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe said.
“We just didn’t get a good opportunity to really get any traffic on base…we never really forced them to defend the whole field, it was kinda the same result over and over,” head coach, Anthony Renz said.
Despite not getting the outcome they wanted the team still held a sense of optimism that things can turn around at any time.
“We know we can play with anybody in the conference that game wasn’t what the score made it look like,” Henkemeyer-Howe said.
“If we wanna be in the playoffs at the end of the year we just gotta be a little bit better and rise to the challenge… good thing is the season doesn’t end today … got a lot of work to do but everything’s ahead of us,” Renz said.
The Cobbers will continue to play through their schedule and battle for a top spot in the conference. Their next home game is a double header against Saint Mary’s on Sunday April 28, the action starts at 1 p.m. at Bucky Burgau Field.
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