golden, colo. - for the second time today, the concordia university (11-2) offense provided the pitching staff with double-digit run production as they defeated regis university (10-11) 12-9 in the thin mile-high air in 10 innings at darden field on the campus of colorado school of mines. Concordia has now won four straight as they head to pueblo, colo. Tomorrow to in a battle of the no. 2 and no. 3 teams in the region. Csu-pueblo is also ranked #24 in the nation while cu is #19, both according to the ncbwa division ii top-25. First pitch from pueblo is at 2:00 p.m. Central time. box score
the golden bears lost a 4-0 lead after four solid frames to start the game behind senior right handed starting pitcher aaron pfalzgraff (garland, texas), who once again proved to be tough to hit early in a game.
after losing his shutout by allowing a run in the fifth, pfalzgraff unravelled in the sixth, surrendering a three run homer to put concordia behind 5-4 before he was removed with no one out and four runs in.
it was another solid start overall for pfalzgraff, who worked five innings allowing five runs on nine hits striking out six while walking just one. The rangers' three run home run may have put a stain on an otherwise well-pitched game, but the homer was hit in the high altitude of the rocky mountains which has been known to inflate era's, batting averages and slugging numbers across all levels of baseball.
from the fourth inning on, the rangers would score at least a run in every inning the rest of the way, but only scored more than one run in the four run sixth inning.
trailing 6-4 heading into the top of the eighth inning, it was time for another late inning cu rally. With a runner on first and one out, freshman shortstop bryan lippincott (des moines, iowa) delivered a double to the opposite field down the left field line. A walk to freshman logan bouts (hopkins, minn.) loaded the bases setting up an rbi walk to steven king (johnston, iowa) before an rbi groundout to by sophomore jon stockton (oakdale, minn.) tied the score.
but the rangers used an rbi double in the bottom of the eighth to reclaim the lead, 7-6.
in the ninth, it was a two run jack by senior catcher chris herbert (white bear lake, minn.) that gave cu the go-ahead score. Herbert's blast to center was his fourth of the season giving the slugger 22 rbi to date.
but the concordia bullpen couldn't hold the lead as freshman chris peterson (st. Anthony, minn.) let in a run for the second straight inning to knot the game at eight apiece, sending the game into extra innings for the second time in concordia's season.
in the 10th, concordia scored four unearned runs highlighted by a two run single by lippincott, once again providing late-inning heroics.
senior lefty specialist kirk ingram (woodbury, minn.) gave a shaky bottom of the 10th, allowing three baserunners, but he held ru to just one run to close out the game.
peterson earned the victory, picking up his first career win for cu. Relievers ben lemke (rosemount, minn.) and nick anderson (plymouth, minn.) each provided solid relief efforts, lemke with a shutout inning while anderson only allowed an unearned run to help keep cu close in the middle innings.
four golden bears had two-hit performances as cu had 12 hits and drew nine walks. They committed only one error in the field, but that was enough to snap their errorless streak at five games. Regis pounded out 18 hits but were only walked three times by cu pitchers. Each team left 10 runners on in the 10 inning game.
