The Concordia University baseball team (18-6, 6-2 NSIC) continued their hot hitting in a two game sweep over the University of Minnesota Crookston (0-26, 0-15 NSIC) on Wednesday afternoon at Bob Barnes Field in St. Paul, Minn. The Bears won the first game 23-2 before a 16-1 victory in the second game.
The Bears pounded out 39 hits, hitting .500 as a team in the two games, scoring 39 runs with a .692 team slugging percentage. They also tore up the base paths, executing four double steals and stealing 10 bases in 10 tries.
In the two games,
Brenden Furrow was 6-6 with five runs, five rbi, a pair of walks and a pair of stolen bases.
Jake Waldman (left) was 6-9, scored seven runs while driving in four rbi with a double, a home run, two walks and two steals.
Greg Winegarden went 5-8 with five runs, a double and three rbi while
Andy Judkins (right)was 3-5 with a double, home run, five rbi and
Mason Reinhart had a 4-7 afternoon with two runs, four rbi and a double. He was also hit by pitch in his first three at bats in the second game, recording a .700 on base percentage for the doubleheader.
The Bears got out to a sluggish start in the first game, allowing UMC to score twice in the first despite not surrendering a hit. After starter
Derek Mason got the first two batters out quickly, he hit the third hitter, Beau Mertens. With a runner on first, Mason forced Matt Morin to line out to center field with
Matt Borman making an excellent shoestring catch, but the runner reached when Wnegarden was called for catcher interference, keeping the inning alive.
The next batter, Chris Sculley, drilled a line drive that was misplayed in left field, scoring Mertens and Morin to give the Golden Eagles an early 2-1 lead.
The Bears scored one in the first when Judkins drove in Borman with a bases loaded single to left field. But Reinhart flew out to right field and
John Maciej hit into an inning ending double play ending CU's threat.
After a scoreless second inning, the Concordia bats awoke with a four run third inning that was sparked by a Reinhart two run double.
Concordia never looked back, scoring two in the fourth and three in the fifth which set the table for a 13 run sixth inning explosion with 16 hitters stepping up to the plate. In the first game, Waldman hit his sixth home run of the season, a two run shot to left field in the sixth inning.
Mason settled into a groove after the tough first inning. He worked six strong innings, allowing just two hits, two unearned runs and one walk. He struck out five batters on the way to his third win of the season, improving to 3-1.
Ted Farni worked a scoreless seventh with one strikeout.
In the second game, the Bears got on the scoreboard first with a run in the bottom of the first, an rbi single to left by Furrow, driving in Waldman.
In the second,Concordia pulled away with six runs using a two run single through the left side of the infield by Furrow followed by a two run homer to left center by Judkins, his second of the season.
They scored four in the third and fourth innings and one in the fifth before finally going scoreless in the sixth. In the two games, the Bears scored in nine consecutive innings and in 10 of the 12 innings they were up to bat.
Concordia added one more home run, when
Nick Davis drilled a line shot over the left center field fence to circle the bases for the first time this season.
Jake Campion (right) worked four shutout innings to register his first win of the season, improving to 1-0. He allowed three hits and three walks and struck out a pair.
Bryan Bach worked two innings of relief, allowing one run on two hits before giving way to
Ryan Fixell, who worked a 1-2-3 seventh inning with one strikeout.
Concordia returns to action this weekend when they travel to take on Wayne State in Northern Sun action.
cu 23, um crookston 2
cu 16, um crookston 1
