winona, minn. - the concordia university baseball team (14-7, 8-4 nsic) picked up a key road split at #12 winona state (24-9, 18-4 nsic), falling 12-5 in the first game before capturing a clutch 3-2 win in game two against the nsic league leaders and top-ranked team in the region. The concordia pitching staff did not allow an extra base hit to the warriors in the 16 innings of baseball. Senior right handed pitcher nick anderson (plymouth, minn.) went the distance for a 9-inning complete game win in game two, allowing just one earned run to improve to 3-1 on the year. game 1 box | game 2 box
anderson has posted a 3-0 record with 3 saves in his last six appearances, working 21.0 innings and allowing just five earned runs for a 2.14 earned run average during the stretch.
junior third baseman bryan lippincott (des moines, iowa) extended his hitting streak to 19 games, with a pair of two-hit performances in the doubleheader. He went 4-9 and is hitting .466 on the season, adding his 10th double and eighth stolen base in game two.
senior left fielder jon stockton (oakdale, minn.) extended his on-base streak to 28 games in the first game of the doubleheader by going 1-3 with a two-run double. He also tied the school's career record for walks with his 92nd, tying mason reinhart (2004-07). But stockton was unable to reach safely in game two, despite delivering a sacrifice fly, ending the streak at 28.
game 1: winona st 12, cu 5
the golden bears fell into a 9-0 hole in the first inning and were not able to recover against the 12th-ranked team in the nation.
but after the 9-0 start, concordia outscored the warriors 5-3 in the final five innings of play to build some momentum in the doubleheader.
stockton hit a two run double in the third inning to get cu on the scoreboard. It was stockton's 11th double of the season.
on the scoreboard offensively, the bullpen calmed the winona state lineup down. Sophomore right hander zach goodwin (mahtomedi, minn.) worked a season-high 4.0 innings, allowing one earned run (three runs) while striking out a pair. Sophomore left hander griff kilber (chanhassen, minn.) pitched the final 1.2 innings, allowing a run on four hits.
the offense picked it back up in the fourth, scoring a pair of runs on an rbi single by junior shortstop troy dubay (urbandale, iowa) an rbi groundout fielder's choice by senior right fielder sam fagely (mahtomedi, minn.).
but concordia stranded two runners in the inning and would strand two more in the fifth and leave the bases loaded in the sixth inning as their comeback rally was stalled on the bases. They left 13 runners on base for the game, combined with the big first inning spelled the loss.
junior left hander cody wilcoxson (aurora, colo.) took the loss and falls to 0-2 on the season as he made his first start.
dubay went 2-5 with an rbi while s.fagely was 2-4 with two runs and an rbi behind him. Lippincott was also 2-5 and with stockton's 1-3, 2 rbi effort, the top of the order produced at the plate, going 7-17 with three runs and four rbi.
winona state starter aaron hoverson got the win, improving to 4-0, but it was a shaky win as he allowed four runs on eight hits with three walks to the golden bears. Mike wasilik pitched 3.0 innings of relief for his first save, allowing just an unearned run.
wsu leadoff hitter tony mueller went 3-5 with two runs and two rbi and the top five hitters in the warrior lineup all had at least one rbi, with four of them producing two rbi performances.
game 2: cu 3, winona st 2
things started out in game two like they did in the first game, with the warriors threatening for a big inning.
it didn't help that the golden bears stranded a runner on third base in the top of the inning to start the game.
in the warriors' first, a walk and three straight hits scored a pair of runs before an out was recorded. But the senior anderson settled in, striking out john magee looking for the first out before inducing a double play to lippincott, as he recorded the out at third and fired to first to end the inning before winona state opened up a big lead.
that was all the warriors would get, too, as they stranded 10 on base in the game, leaving the bases loaded in the third and leavnig a runner on second in the fifth and eighth innings. In the ninth, anderson held strong with a runner on second and one out, stranding runners on first and second and wsu third hitter adam gemuenden forced to ground to second base.
he threw 1-2-3 innings inthe second, fourth and seventh innings and pitched out of a leadoff single in the sixth by striking out the next two hitters and forcing an inning ending lineout to second.
overall, anderson scattered seven hits and struck out five, but didn't allow an extra base hit to keep the rallies to a minimum.
offensively, concordia got a run back in the second, loading the bases with no outs before a double play scored their first run but also ended their threat.
concordia hit into five double plays in the game, but in the sixth inning, wsu starter tyler zemla was removed after working a solid 5.0 innings, allowing one run. John wenker came in and concordia jumped on him, with s.fagely leading off with a single and moving up on a wild pitch.
a ground out by lippincott moved him to third and stockton delivered the game tying sacrifice fly to center.
wenker forced an eighth inning double play to end a cu rally. But in the ninth, a one out walk by junior catcher doug stearns (minnetonka, minn.) and a base hit by freshman elliot powell (minnetonka, minn.) set things in motion.
concordia pinch ran freshman sean graff (harris, minn.) at second base to add speed for the go-ahead run in scoring position. Graff would score on the ensuing at bat, as junior centerfielder kris long (right, rochester, minn.) delivered the go-ahead hit down the left field line.
long went 1-3 with a pair of rbi in the game while stockton had the other rbi. Unlike the first game, concordia stranded only six runners on base, partially due to their execution and partially due to their double play tendencies. They forced wsu to leave 10 on base, the four runner difference being more than the margin of victory.
anderson's earned run average drops to 5.72 with his continued solid pitching as he earned his 18th career win. Wenker falls to 5-2 with the loss as he worked 4.0 innings in relief.
concordia returns home tomorrow (1:30) and saturday (12:00) for a four game series against wayne state (7-9, 7th nsic) in what is now a big series after wayne state swept upper iowa today in fayette, iowa with an 8-5 extra inning win in game one before a decisive 17-1 win in the second game.
concordia is now in fourth place by percentage points in the northern sun as augustana was swept by minnesota state. More importantly, they gained some space with upper iowa losing, setting up the big wayne state-concordia series this weekend.
