Fayette, Iowa - The Concordia University baseball team took their .500 conference record on the road today and battled another .500 club, Upper Iowa. The result was a split as the teams remain deadlocked in the standings but actually moved up to a four way tie for fifth place. Concordia took the first game 8-5 in 8-innings before falling 7-2 in the second game. The game two loss snapped a three game winning streak for Concordia (9-6, 3-3 nsic) while Upper Iowa moves to 14-15 (8-8 nsic). game 1 box | game 2 box
game 1: concordia 8, upper iowa 5 (8 innings)
Concordia improved to 3-1 in extra inning games by winning their third straight extra inning game and third straight game overall. They led 1-0 after the early innings off of an rbi single by freshman first baseman Elliot Powell (Minnetonka, Minn.) in the second inning.
Concordia could've done more damage, leaving a runner on third base in the first inning and leaving the bases loaded in the third.
On the mound, freshman right hander Adam Kramer (Wausau, Wis.) was cruising early, striking out three in the first three innings as he blanked the Peacocks.
But Upper Iowa came around the second time through the order off of the rookie, using a two run triple by Matt Corbitt and an rbi groundout to follow to take a 3-1 lead. Corbitt would drive in five total runs in the two games, on just two hits (2-7, 5 rbi).
In the top of the fifth, Concordia answered off the bat of senior cleanup hitter Jon Stockton (right, lf, Oakdale, Minn.) as he drilled a two run home run to score junior shortstop Troy Dubay (Urbandale, Iowa). It was stockton's first home run of the season while Dubay went 3-5 with two runs, a steal and reached on an error in the game from the leadoff spot.
A walk and a single after the Stockton homer set up a two run double by senior catcher Sam Fagely (Mahtomedi, Minn.). Fagely also threw out another base stealer in the game, and has thrown out 11 of 21 base stealers on the year, with opponents successful just 47.6% of the time.
Upper Iowa responded with a pair of runs in the bottom of the inning to tie the game at five after five innings.
Kramer would be removed early in the fifth inning, pitching 4.0-plus allowing five earned runs while striking out three without issuing any walks. He would not factor into the decision.
Enter, senior right hander Nick Anderson (Plymouth, Minn.) who would proceed to hurl 4.0 shutout innings out of the bullpen to pick up his second win, improving 2-1. It wasn't easy for Anderson, who allowed five hits and two walks. He stranded runners on 2nd and 3rd in the fifth, runners on 1st and 2nd in the seventh and runners on 2nd and 3rd in the eighth to pick up the well-earned victory.
More doubles out of the bottom of the order boosted Concordia in the eighth inning, with s.fagely leading off the inning by getting himself into scoring position with his second double of the day. Sophomore second baseman J.T. Schneider (Oak Creek, Wis.) added an rbi double with one out and scored on a bunt single in front of the plate by junior center fielder Kris Long (right, Rochester, Minn.).
With one out and two on, junior third baseman Bryan Lippincott (Des Moines, Iowa) used the extra at bat to extend his hitting streak to 12 with an rbi single to give CU a three run lead. Dubay also extended his hitting streak to nine while Schneider moved his to five games.
game 2: upper iowa 7, concordia 2
with the first game going to extra innings, that automatically triggered the second game to shorten to a 7-inning affair. Concordia could've used the late innings for more magic, as they fell to upper iowa by five runs.
the peacocks scored three in the second and two in the third innings to build a 5-0 lead off starter andy fagely (rhp, so., mahtomedi, minn.). Bringing an impressive 17-1 strikeout to walk ratio into the game, a.fagely struck out just one while walking two in 4.0 innings of work.
after retiring the side in order thanks to a double play line out, a.fagely was removed in the fifth and charged for two more runs. He took the loss and falls to 2-2 on the season.
offensively, concordia couldn't get going. Lippincott picked up a two out single and stole second in the first inning to extend his hitting streak to 13 games but was stranded.
they drew back-to-back two out walks in the second inning but ninth batter schneider struck out looking to end the inning.
upper iowa's matt treybig was in command. He went the distance and improved to 3-3 while lowering his earned run average to 1.82.
in the fourth, concordia together their biggest threat with runners on 2nd and 3rd with one out but junior logan bouts (dh, hopkins, minn.) was cut down at home on a grounder and two more runners were stranded, spoiling junior right fielder ben lemke's (rosemount, minn.) double.
in the fifth inning concordia finally rounded the bases when lippincott hit his third home run of the season, a two-out, two-run shot for a pair of unearned runs off treybig.
s.fagely would single in the sixth and advance to second on a wild pitch but was stranded for concordia's last threat.
junior left handed relievers ty hall (spring lake park, minn.) and cody wilcoxson each worked scoreless innings in relief of a.fagely.
lippincott (right) went 2-4 in the game and is still hitting .470 on the season with three homers, 22 rbi and four stolen bases. He produced both runs and was the only player with two hits in the game. Dubay and schneider saw their hitting streaks halt at nine and five games, respectively while stockton upped his to five straight and is hitting .415.
the golden bears continue conference play this weekend when they host u-mary for a four game series on saturday and sunday. The marauders are 5-15 overall and 1-9 in league play with their only league win against southwest minnesota state.
