TUCSON, Ariz. - Concordia-St. Paul (1-2) dropped a second straight contest to Southwest Minnesota State (4-7) on Friday night at Kino Sports Complex in the Tucson Invitational Games.
The Mustangs scored four runs in the seventh and three more in the eighth to erase Concordia's 5-2 edge heading into the late innings for a 9-6 final.
As a team, Concordia issued eight walks and three hit by pitch as SMSU added 12 hits in the contest.
The Golden Bear offense was able to deliver 13 hits, hitting .371 as a team.
Ryan Poppitz went 4-5 with a doulbe and two RBI while
Kyle Dalton added his second 3-hit game of the year, going 3-5 with two runs.
Concordia's defense turned four double plays with SMSU adding a pair for six total in the contest.
Freshman
Connor Olson went 3-4 with an RBI and hit a solid double to the left field corner for his first collegiate hit.
Left handed starting pitcher
Kody Knaus worked 4.0 innings in his Concordia debut, allowing two runs on six hits with four strikeouts. He survived a tough luck first inning in which the Mustangs had three soft hits along with a pair of walks, Knaus worked out of a bases loaded with one out jam by inducing a double play as shortstop
Eric Fasnacht flipped a ball up the middle to
Alex LaPorte who made a strong throw to retire the side with only two runs in.
After that, Knaus settled in and had one strikeout in each of his four innings of work.
Concordia scored a run in the third on a sacrifice fly by
Tyler Krekling to score
Alex LaPorte.
The Golden Bears took a 5-2 lead in the bottom of the fifth with a big 4-run inning sparked by a 2-run double to left by Poppitz, scoring Dalton and Krekling. Fasnacht and Olson each added RBI singles to third base in a 5-hit inning for the team.
Sophomore right handed reliever
Jake Kounkel would be charged with the loss despite a solid first two innings of work facing the minimum number of Mustang hitters.
In the seventh, SMSU would draw a pair of walks to start the inning with a fielder's choice error allowing a run to score. After a strikeout, Kounkel was chased from the inning after a hit by pitch to load the bases.
All three runs would score with Kounkel's final line allowing four runs (two earned) despite not allowing a hit to 11 batters faced with two walks and two hit by pitch.
The Mustangs added three more runs in the eighth before senior
Adam Fredericks pitched a scoreless ninth, working around back-to-back singles to start the inning by getting a strikeout and double play.
SMSU reliever Cameron Knudson earned the win, working 4.2 innings allowing two runs (one earned) on six hits. He relieved Joe Axelson who pitched the first 4.1 innings, allowing four runs on seven hits and three walks.
Concordia continues play in the Tucson Invitational Games tomorrow with a doubleheader against Augustana at 6 p.m.
