Second Day Same As The First

CLERMONT, Fla. (3/01/20)---Concordia rolled in the opener then lost the second game for the second straight day to open their spring training trip in Florida. The Cobbers knocked out 12 hits and beat Elizabethtown (Pa.) 11-0 in five innings in Game 1 and then lost 13-1 to Loras in five innings on the last game of the day.

The split brings the Cobbers' overall record to 4-2 on the year and 2-2 in Florida.

Sophomore shortstop Maria Pake continued her red-hot start at the plate by getting three more hits, all of the extra-base variety, and scoring three runs. Junior Taylor Erholtz collected a hit in each game while freshman Molly Wilde went yard for the first time in her college career and Elizabeth Tofteland bagged her second triple of the year.

Junior pitcher Megan Gavin went the distance in the first game and added eight more strikeouts to her career total. She also helped herself at the plate by going 1-for-1 and drove in a pair of runs with a double.

GAME 1
Concordia jumped on Elizabethtown in the top of the first and kept their foot on the gas peddle as they scored six time in the first two innings and then added a 5-spot in the fourth frame.

The three crooked-number innings would be more than Gavin would need. She struck out eight and gave up only three hits in earning her second win of the season.

Gavin now has 245 career K's and she lowered her 2020 earned run average to 1.00. Gavin has now fanned 21 batters in 14.0 innings pitched this season which translates into a 10.50 strikeout average per seven innings pitched.

Gavin didn't allow more than one hit in an inning on Sunday and no Blue Jay runner got past second base. The lone threat put up by Elizabethtown came in the second inning when the Blue Jays led off the frame with a double but then Gavin shut the door by striking out the next three batters.

The offense scored four runs in the first on three hits. Pake was the catalyst as she led off the game with a triple down the left field line and then scored on Wilde's home run over the left field fence. Erholtz then doubled down the left field line which sent Elizabeth Asp to third after Asp had coaxed a walk. Asp scored on a sacrifice fly from Gavin and Erholtz would come home on a ground and passed ball.

The Cobbers added two more runs in the second. Pake doubled home Callie Ahlgren for the first run and then Asp brought Pake in with a single.

CC opened up the game completely with a 5-run fourth inning. They scored five runs on three hits with the biggest coming off the bat of Gavin who drove in two runs with a double to right center.   

Besides the 3-hit game from Pake, Wilde and Kate Wensloff also had multiple-hit games for Concordia. Wilde went 2-for-2 with two RBI from the No.2 spot in the order. She has now had at least one hit in five straight games. Wensloff was 2-for-4, scored a run and drove in another.

GAME 2
The second game belonged to Loras. They scored at least one run in all five innings and put the game out of reach with a 6-run fifth.

The Duhawks scored once in the first and added two more in the second before the Cobbers got their lone run of the game in the bottom of the second.

Tofteland hammered a 2-out triple to left field and then scored on a wild pitch in the next at-bat.

Erholtz had the only other hit in the game. Her 2-out single in the first helped her go 1-for-2 in the finale. The single also added to her consecutive game hit streak. She has now hit safely in three straight games.

Asp extended her team-leading on-base streak in the second game. She earned a walk n the first inning and has now reached base safely in all six games this year.

UP NEXT:  Concordia will have their lone day off on Monday and return to action on Tuesday, Mar. 3 with a pair of games. The Cobbers will face Mitchell at 1:45 p.m. (cst) and then square off against Eastern Nazarene at 3:45 p.m.