minneapolis, minn. - freshman shortstop bryan lippincott's (des moines, iowa) first career home run couldn't have come at a bigger moment as his walk-off blast to right gave concordia university (6-1) a first game 8-7 comeback win over st. John's university (0-2). In the second game, lippincott's fourth inning leadoff homer broke a 7-7 tie and would prove to be the game-winning run in a 15-7 game two win for the sweep at the metrodome on wednesday afternoon. game 1 box - game 2 box
the 6-3, 190 pound long and lean frame of lippincott had never hit a home run during his entire prep career and in between the first and second game he was overheard telling his teammates and coaches, "i've never even come close to hitting a ball that far!"
indeed, his walk-off home run was a no-doubt blast off the bat as it landed midway up one of the stairwells just below the upper deck over the dome's famous "baggie."
he wasn't the only golden bear to have a big day at the plate as the first two hitters in the cu lineup had their way with the johnnies' pitching staff. Seniors jake schmidt (oakdale, minn.) and chris herbert combined to hit 12-17 as a tandem with eight runs, 10 rbi and numerous extra base hits. Herbert powered his way to three doubles, a homer (his third) and seven total rbi while schmidt had a double and a pair of triples - one to leadoff each game.
herbert solidifies his team-high in rbi, now with 16 through seven games on the season.
in the first game, schmidt was solid on the mound, dominating sju through the first four innings before running into trouble in the fifth.
the game seemed to be in-hand at that point, however, so when schmidt was lifted after five innings with a 6-2 lead, concordia was confident they'd shut down the johnnies.
schmidt was sharp, striking out 11 while allowing only surrendering three hits. He did walk three, allowing two runs (one earned). He left the game with the lead on pace to pick up his third win.
sju had other plans, as they plated five runs in the sixth inning to take a 7-6 lead, six outs away from knocking off the solid d-ii squad.
sophomore nick anderson came on in relief and struggled in his first appearance of the season, allowing four runs (two earned) in a third of an inning. When his outing ended, there were two runners on with senior kirk ingram taking the mound.
the reliable veteran lefty let in both of the inherited runners as well as one of his own.
it was a bit uncharacteristic of the cu defense, however, as the golden bears committed a pair of errors in the game leading to four of the seven sju runs to be unearned.
in the bottom of the sixth, facing a one run deficit, senior zane froehlich delivered a two out rbi single to left. He tried to stretch the hit into a double and was gunned down at second to end the inning.
after ingram settled down for a scoreless seventh, lippincott stepped up to the plate and delivered the biggest hit of his young career.
ingram earned the victory and ties the cu career record for total appearances as his appearance against u-mary in game two will not be official until the game is completed later this season. He worked 1.2 innings, allowing three hits and one unearned run in the win. Ingram has now appeared in 51 career games for concordia.
in game two, the golden bears received freightening news in the third inning when junior blake devries was forced from the game prematurely due to an apparent injury. Prior to departing, he was tabbed for seven runs of which only two were earned in a hard luck outing. He fanned five batters while throwing 61 pitches. Prior to leaving the game, devries did show an encouraging sign by throwing a pitch before deciding to leave the game.
while the devries departure was an unnerving sight for concordia baseball fans in attendance, he gave way to a promising rookie when freshman ben lemke took the ball.
lemke came in with concordia trailing 7-4 with a runner on base. He took command immediately and pitched no-hit ball the rest of the way while the cu bats took off.
lemke earned the win in relief with 4.1 no-hit innings. He walked only one batter and struck out four, lowering his early season era to just 0.73. The rosemount, minn. Native now has a win and a save in just three career relief appearances.
concordia returns to the metrodome for a pair of doubleheaders next week when they face grand view (ia) university on march 3 at 12:15 and mayville state (nd) on march 5 at 7:45 a.m.
notes:
concordia announced this morning that the second game against the university of mary played on february 6 is officially a suspended game. The two teams will resume the game from the bottom of the sixth inning with cu at bat holding an 8-3 lead. They are scheduled to play a three game series march 14-15 in topeka, kan.
