Cobbers Drop A Pair To John Carroll

AUBURNDALE, Fla. (3/7/24)---Concordia lost a pair of games to John Carroll (Ohio) in the penultimate doubleheader on its annual spring training trip to Florida.

The Cobbers fell 9-8 in the opener and then lost 14-2 in the finale. The two defeats drop Concordia's record to 3-5 on the season. The Blue Streak ups their record to 3-6.

Game 1: Concordia 8, John Carroll 9
The first 5.5 innings of Game 1 was all Concordia as they built game a 7-2 lead behind 3-run innings in the fourth and sixth frames.

First-year phenom Ben Shumansky started the Cobbers' 8-run game by plating Wyatt Gunkel with a single after Gunkel led off the fourth with a double down the left-field line. Justin Kloster and Caiden Kjelstrom brought home the other runs in the inning as CC built a 3-0 lead.

John Carroll put up a lone run on the board in the bottom of the inning but Concordia countered that with a single run in the fifth when Thomas Horan led off the inning with a single up the middle and eventually scored on a double steal situation.

The Blue Streak put up the third straight 1-run inning in the bottom of the fifth before the Cobbers scored three times in the top of the sixth. Kjelstrom, Jake Christianson and Horan came up with the RBI in the inning as Concordia had two hits and were aided by a pair of John Carroll errors.      

The game turned in the bottom of the sixth inning when the Blue Streak scored seven times, including a grand slam that turned out to be the game-winning hit. John Carroll scored the seven runs on six hits in the sixth.

Concordia nearly tied the game in the top of the seventh. David Dorsey was beaned with one out and went to second on a single to right field from Chance Bye. The Cobbers then pulled off a double steal to push the runners to second and third. Kloster followed with a ground ball out that scored Dorsey and sent Bye to third base. What followed was one of the rarest plays in baseball as Bye attempted to steal home on the next at-bat. He took off for home, but the John Carroll pitcher was able to step off the rubber and fire home for the tag by the catcher just before Bye touched home plate.

The Blue Streak held a narrow 12-10 edge in hits in the opener.

Christianson and Horan had multiple-hit games. Chriatianson was 2-for-4 with an RBI and a run scored from the No.2 spot, while Horan was 2-for-3 in the No.3 spot. He also drove in a run and scored once.

Kjelstrom and Kloster had multiple-RBI games with each player driving in a pair.

Jacoby Nold was designated as the opener on the bump for CC. He pitched a scoreless first inning and then handed the ball to Thad Lieser. Lieser went 3.0 innings and allowed one run and struck out three. Ethan Beyer took over in the fifth and sophomore J Riley Ohm finished the game.

Game 2: Concordia 2, John Carroll 14             
Three big-run innings proved to be the difference, including the Blue Streak's second 7-run frame of the day. They plated three runs in the second, three more in the fourth and put the game out of reach with a 7-run seventh inning.

The Cobbers' two runs came in the second and third innings. Ryan Kloster picked up his first collegiate RBI on his first collegiate hit when he singled home Dorsey in the second. Bye came through with the other CC RBI. His single to right field in the third scored Horan after Horan led off the inning with a single and then stole second base.      

Concordia had seven hits in Game 2 and were led by Kjelstrom, who dropped into the No.2 spot in the order, and went 2-for-3.   

The Cobbers used five pitchers in the game. Carter Thielke was the opener and pitched a scoreless first inning. He was followed by Bergen Bauman, Drew Dorsey, Cullen Norland, Cam Nieto and Zack Ehnstrom.

SEASON STAT STUFF:
- The Cobbers are hitting .329 as a team in their first eight games of the year.
- Justin Kloster continues to lead the Cobbers in hitting with a .400 average. Gunkel only played in the opener and is tied with Kloster at the .400 mark.
- Kjelstrom leads the team with a .448 on-base percentage. He is also hitting .348 for the season. Kjelstrom has reached base safely in all eight games this year.
- Horan leads the team in slugging percentage with a .556 mark. He has two doubles and a home run. Horan also has a 6-game hit streak.  
- Shumansky had a single hit in each game and upped his hitting streak to seven games.      
- Isaac Henkemeyer-Howe, who was named to the MIACC All-Conference hockey team on Thursday, only played in the opener and went 1-for-3. He has 91 career hits and needs nine more to become the 30th player in program history to reach the 100-hit milestone.       

UP NEXT: Concordia will have a day off and then play Immaculata (Pa.) in a single, 9-inning game on Saturday, Mar. 9 in Auburndale, Fla.