mankato, minn. - concordia (19-23, 11-10 nsic) homered once in each of the first four innings on their way to a 17-7 victory over #25 minnesota state university, mankato (28-10, 17-5 nsic) on wednesday afternoon at msu baseball complex in the first of two game. They dropped game 2 despite a late comeback, 8-5. The first game of the league doubleheader was intended to be a 9-inning contest, but the 10-run rule applied after 7-innings were complete, shortening the first game. The split extended their winning streak to seven games before it was snapped with the game two loss. game 1 box | game 2 box
game 1: cu 17, #25 minnesota state 7 (7 inn)
freshman second baseman j.t. Schneider (oak creek, wis.) set the tone in the first inning, extending his hitting streak to 20 games with his third homer of the season, a solo shot to left field to start concordia on the right foot.
when concordia scores first in 2010, they hold a 13-6 record.
for schneider, the hitting streak would come to a close in the second game but not before he lit up the maverick pitching staff for a 2-3 performance with three runs and three rbi in the first game. Schneider's streak is the second longest known streak in the history of cu baseball, just missing senior brenden furrow's (johnston, iowa) record streak of 21 games, set between his first and second years in the program. Schneider had hit safely in every nsic game he had played in until the second game today.
in the second inning, another freshman went yard when hogan jackson (oakdale, minn.) lifted a solo home run to left.
in the third, junior sam fagely (mahtomedi, minn.) delivered a two run shot and furrow added a three-run homer in a four run fourth inning as cu took a big lead early.
behind solid early work on the mound, the four homers helped concordia establish a lead as junior right hander ryan rodeck (lino lakes, minn.) was solid. He struck out two in the first inning, allowed a pair of runs (one unearned in the second inning before an inning ending double play (5-4-3) got him out of the third in order.
but he was making his first start since the team's spring trip to florida and it caught up with him in the fourth inning. He allowed four runs on five hits in the fourth and was removed with two down in the inning. He pitched 3.2 innings, allowing five earned runs with three strikeouts and did not factor into the decision.
luckily, concordia escaped the fourth inning with an 8-6 lead.
the offense came back alive for a five run fifth inning and a four run sixth inning to put the game away.
with freshman left hander patrick rydeen (stillwater, minn.) on in long relief, he made sure no more runs were needed. Rydeen earned his first collegiate victory, working 3.1 innings allowing just one unearned run on two hits. He struck out two and walked one.
concordia's offensive output forced minnesota state to use seven pitchers in as many innings. The mavericks even started their ace, patrick lenton, who entered the day with a 6-2 record but his three inning, four earned run performance not only secured his third loss but also raised his earned run average to 3.09 as he was tagged for three homers.
junior jon stockton (oakdale, minn.) continued his hot hitting, going 3-4 with a pair of doubles giving him 10 on the season while scoring three times and driving in two. Also providing a three hit game was sophomore logan bouts (hopkins, minn.) who went 3-5 with a pair of rbi.
game 2: #25 minnesota state 8, cu 5
minnesota state took a 7-0 lead after four innings of play thanks to a four run first inning (two unearned runs). When concordia allows their opponent to score first, they are just 6-17 on the season.
concordia's bats came alive in the fifth inning with a sacrifice fly by schneider and a solo homer by furrow as part of a four run inning that included two unearned runs.
furrow's homer puts him three shy of the career home run record.
concordia added another run in the sixth inning with sophomore troy dubay's (urbandale, iowa) rbi single through the left side but cu wouldn't get a sniff in the seventh off of msu closer luke putz.
putz worked a perfect seventh with two strikeouts for his seventh save. Msu starter blake schwartz went five innings for the win to improve to 8-1 on the year.
concordia started jackson on the hill, his second start on the mound in his young career. In his last two outings, he earned his first two collegiate wins. Last week he pitched five innings in his first career start for the win against northern state.
today, jackson faced a lineup that has helped msu contend for a league title all season. After the rough first inning in which he was tagged for four runs (two earned), he settled down. He surrendered a run in the second but retired the side in order in the third and at one point had retired five straight mavericks, the 3rd through 7th hitters in the heart of their order.
he was removed in the fourth, like rodeck in game one. Jackson finished his day with 3.2 innings allowing five earned runs (seven total) on seven hits with two strikeouts.
he was also relieved by a freshman lefty, just like rodeck. And just like in game one, the freshman lefty came through with a solid effort to finish the game.
in game two, it was griff kilber (chanhassen, minn.). Kilber worked 2.1 innings allowing an unearned run on just one hit. He didn't walk anyone and struck out three in a very effective performance.
in the second game, furrow delivered another multi-hit game, going 4-9 on the day with two home runs and has lifted his average back to .400.
bouts also went 2-4 in the second game and went 5-9 on the day and how has the longest active hitting streak on the squad at 10 games, an impressive milestone. Bouts has raised his average to .336 while cementing his feet firmly in the cleanup role. Furrow, meanwhile, has hit safely in eight straight.
the golden bears are now winners of nine of their last 11 games overall and today's split was an important test against top northern sun starting pitching, similar to their achievement at st. Cloud state a week and a half ago.
they host a four game northern sun weekend series against bemidji state at barnes field this saturday at 1:00 p.m. And sunday at noon. Concordia is now 2.5 games behind sixth place minnesota duluth and 1.5 behind seventh place augustana. Both teams swept their series today. Umd hosts league leader winona state this weekend while augustana has a four game home/home series with fourth place southwest minnesota state.
