The Concordia University baseball team (12-4, 3-1 NSIC) used strong pitching and defense to sweep Bemidji State University (3-17, 1-3 NSIC), 9-1 and 3-0, on Sunday afternoon at veterans field in Minnetonka, Minn. The sweep gave the Bears three of four in the series.
In the first game, sophomore
Jake Schmidt started things off by striking out the first two batters in a perfect first inning. He went on to pitch six strong innings, allowing one run on six hits while striking out three and issuing just one walk. He improves to 2-1 on the year and lowers his era to 2.49 in five appearances (four starts).
Schmidt's outing was assisted by his teammates in the field as he had a pair of inning ending double plays, one in the second inning (Waldman, right, makes the tag and throws to Maciej at first) and another in the fourth (Waldman-Mason-Maciej)
The offense wasted no time dictating the pace of the game as
Matt Borman and
Jake Waldman led off with back-to-back singles. They moved up to second and third when
Tony Boxwell grounded out to the mound and would each score on the next two at bats: Borman on a sacrifice fly by
Mason Reinhart and waldman came in on an
Andy Judkins rbi single to left.
That set the tone for the game, as Concordia scored three runs on five hits in the first and added two more in the second on a two run blast to right center by Borman, his fourth of the year (pictured below, about to pounce on the pitch).
In the third, CU had five straight one-out singles and tallied six total hits and four more runs to run the score to 9-0.
The Beavers would finally score off of Schmidt in the sixth inning, scraping together three singles to tally their lone score. Sophomore reliever
Kirk Ingram (left) came in the seventh and worked a perfect frame using just seven pitches to close the door.
In game two, the Golden Bears continued their strong defense behind a stellar pitching performance as junior
Eric Utoft (right) went the distance in a 3-0 victory.
Utoft, who improved to 2-1 with the win, logged his first complete game and first shutout of the season. He scattered nine hits in seven innings and had just two 1-2-3 innings, showing the ability to pitch out of tough situations in a tight game.
Utoft struck out four and forced 10 ground balls and was assisted by his infield up the middle, as Waldman and
Derek Mason (left, making a long throw from deep short) each made solid defensive plays to keep BSU from scoring.
Scoreless through the first three frames, the Bears finally manufactured a run in the fourth. Waldman led off with a single to left, moved up on a sacrifice bunt by Boxwell and came in to score when Schmidt drilled an rbi single to left center.
Concordia added a pair of insurance runs in the sixth when Waldman led off with a solo blast to left field. Boxwell followed by legging out an infield single to first and would come around to score on a
Brenden Furrow rbi base hit to center. Furrow was gunned down at second on the play to end the sixth.
That was all Utoft needed as he struck out the first and last batters he faced in the top of the seventh to close out the game. Seemingly stronger as the game went on, Utoft recorded two of his four k's in the final inning.
The Bears return to action for non-conference play on Tuesday, march 27 when they travel to take on St. Cloud State for a mid-week doubleheader at 1:00.
cu 9, bemidji state 1
cu 3, bemidji state 0
