minnetonka, minn. - junior right handed pitcher ben lemke (rosemount, minn.) was in command in game one, pitching concordia university (5-3) to a 2-1 win over hamline university (3-6) at veterans field on sunday evening. In game two, senior left fielder jon stockton (oakdale, minn.) was the hero with a walk-off rbi double in a 3-2 win in 10 innings. game 1 box | game 2 box | photos
game 1: concordia 2, hamline 1
lemke picked up his first win of the season by going the distance in the 7-inning game, three-hitting the pipers while striking out seven. The only run scored by hamline in the fifth inning was an unearned run manufactured without a hit in the inning.
he threw 70 of his 96 pitches for strikes and only walked one as his season earned run average dips to 1.29 in his third start of the season.
concordia scored all the runs they'd need in the first inning with two outs. The damage started with junior third baseman bryan lippincott (des moines, iowa) driving a single to the opposite field into left. A two out walk to senior left fielder jon stockton (oakdale, minn.) gave concordia two runners on with two down. That set up a two run double down the right field line deep into the corner by junior designated hitter logan bouts (hopkins, minn.).
lippincott finished the game 2-3 as he would later double to left center.
concordia would only produce five hits, as the teams combined for eight.
hamline pieced together three different pitchers with their starter, matt mullendore, taking the loss after allowing both concordia runs in the first inning. That was the only inning he threw, as cass kreitlow worked 1.2 no-hit (four walk) innings and dylan olson finished off the remaining 3.1 innings by allowing just two hits on 36 pitches.
game 2: concordia 3, hamline 2 (10 innings)
senior clean-up hitter jon stockton played the hero in game two, delivering a game tying rbi double in the sixth inning to tie the game at one, sending it to extra innings. In the 10th inning with a 2-2 tie and lippincott on first and running on the pitch, stockton aired a deep fly ball to the opposite field gap, landing just past the outstretched arm of left fielder andy king.
the ball bounced up against the fence as lippincott raced towards home. Solid relays from hamline put the ball in catcher ben richardson's mit as he started his slide, but the ball was jarred from his glove as lippincott touched home with his left hand for the walk-off win.
stockton went 2-5 with two rbi and now has seven doubles on the season while lippincott drove in the game tying run in the 10th inning and went 3-5, hitting singles in his final three at bats.
the win went to right hander andy fagely (mahtomedi, minn.), who worked 6.0 innings of relief, allowing just one run in the 10th inning while striking out eight. At one point, fagely mowed down four straight hitters in the midst of a stretch in which he struck out six out of seven recorded outs from the seventh through the ninth innings. He allowed five hits and didn't allow any walks as he stretches his season k-bb ratio to 17-1 while lowering his era to 2.37 as he improved to 2-1 on the year.
hamline scored first in the game in the fourth inning but stranded the bases loaded against starter chris peterson (jr., st. Anthony, minn.). Peterson went 4.0 innings, allowing a run while striking out five for the no decision. Hamline stranded runners in scoring position in the first and fourth innings off peterson.
they would reclaim the lead off fagely in the top of the 10th inning on a one out rbi triple to the left center field gap by tony rogers, but the lead was short lived as concordia walked-off with the win.
junior center fielder kris long (rochester, minn.) went 2-4 in the game and stole a base. In the 10th inning, he also put down a sacrifice bunt that advanced troy dubay to second.
the golden bears look to open northern sun play on wednesday at 1:30 as they play their home opener against minnesota state.
