TUCSON, Ariz. - The Concordia baseball team (2-3) surrendered five unearned runs in the top of the eighth inning as they let a 3-1 lead slip away in a 6-3 loss to Southwest Minnesota State (4-3) on Tuesday morning at Kino Sports Complex. The game was played with clear skies but a stiff wind blowing in from center field.
Concordia carried a 3-1 lead into the top of the eighth, scoring in the first on an RBI single by senior Bryan Lippincott (Des Moines, Iowa), an RBI groundout by juniorGreg Larpenter (Urbandale, Iowa) in the fifth and an RBI single by freshman Kyle Dalton (Minnetonka, Minn.) in the sixth.
Sophomore right hander Adam Kramer(right, Wausau, Wis.) carried Concordia into the top of the eighth with a two run lead. After Ben Korger led off the inning by reaching on an error and the second batter reached on a walk, Kramer settled in. He struck out Jordon Kontz and forced Brian Ness to fly out to center.
But the Mustangs pulled together with two outs, with an RBI single and an RBI double to knock Kramer from the game with a tie score at 3-3.
Junior left hander Griff Kilber (Chanhassen, Minn.) couldn't stop the rally, issuing a two-run double and an RBI single as SMSU scored five times with two outs.
Concordia went down in order in the eighth, and Kilber retired the Mustangs in order in the ninth. In the bottom of the ninth, Concordia pulled a two-out rally of their own. With two down and a runner on first, senior Logan Bouts (Hopkins, Minn.) smashed a ground rule double to center - right into the teeth of the wind, moving junior Paul Giel (Minnetonka, Minn.) to third.
Senior Troy DuBay (Urbandale, Iowa), representing the tying run, delivered a two-run single, bringing the win to the plate. But the Golden Bear rally ended after DuBay, snapping their back-to-back wins over SMSU.
Kramer went 7.2 innings, allowing five unearned runs as his season ERA is still 0.00 in 9.1 innings on the year. He scattered four hits in the first seven innings before giving up two more in the eighth. His only walk was also issued in the eighth. He struck out five while falling to 0-1 on the year.
At one point, Kramer retired 12 out of 13 from the first through fourth innings. The only extra base hit was surrendered to the final batter he faced and is the only extra base hit he's allowed in his 9.1 total innings on the year.
DuBay finished 2-5 with two RBI while Dalton was 2-4 with an RBI. Bouts and Giel also had a pair of hits and each scored a run. Dalton is currently leading the team in hitting at .471, followed by Lippincott at .438.
Jeremy Schmidt started for SMSU, allowing three runs (one earned) over six innings with Concordia tagging him for eight hits. Derek Skovbroten got the win in relief, pitching 3.0 innings with two earned runs allowed.
Concordia continues their spring trip today with another 9-inning game against Jamestown College (N.D.) with first pitch at 3:00 p.m.
