A Pair Of Nail-Biters In Florida Finale

CLERMONT, Fla. (3/05/20)---In the end the results were the same but the path that Concordia took to their fifth straight in Florida was completely different.

For the first time in their five days of games the Cobbers dropped the opener and then returned to grab the win in the second game. And unlike the first eight games of the spring training trip, the last two contests were decided by less than three runs.

Concordia go no-hit in Game 1 by the Ohio Northern pitcher and lost 2-0 to the Polar Bear. Junior pitcher Megan Gavin then locked down Chatham (Mass.) in the Florida finale and the Cobbers pulled out the 2-1 win.

The split on Thursday gives the Cobbers a 5-5 record for their time in Florida. Concordia is now 7-5 in all games this year.

Gavin pitched in all 13 innings against Ohio Northern and Chatham. She only allowed two runs on four hits and struck out seven in the opener. Ohio Northern scored bot of their runs in the bottom of the fourth on a walk, double and single.

Concordia's only base runner in the game came with one out in the seventh inning when Kate Wensloff earned a walk.

The second game came down to the sixth inning. Concordia took a 1-0 lead in the bottom of the third inning Riley Bergstrom singled home Caitlin Culleton who led off the inning with a double to center field.

Chatham then tied the game with a single run in the top of the sixth on an unearned run with two outs in the inning.

The Cobbers would respond in the bottom of the frame to send CC home with a win. Like the Cougars in the top of the frame, the Cobbers' game-winning run came with two outs. The first two CC hitters were retired and then Hannah Wilke started the rally with a walk. Kenzie Leither pinch ran for Wilke and advanced to second on a passed ball. Junior Taylor Erholtz then singled to left field and Leither was ready to put on the brakes and give Concordia runners on the corners but when the left fielder mishandled the ball, Leither sprinted home with the game-winning run.

Concordia outhit Chatham 6-4 for the game. Riley Irmen was the only Cobber with more than one hit. She went 2-for-2 in the trip finale. Bergstrom, Madison Kostelecky, Erholtz and Culleton all had single base knocks.

Gavin went all seven innings to earn her fifth win of the season. She allowed four hits and struck out six. She didn't allow an earned run and lowered her season ERA to 1.54. Gavin had 47 strikeouts in her six appearances in Florida and now has an MIAC best 54 K's for the season.

FLORIDA WRAP: The Cobbers went 5-5 in Florida and hit .276 as a team and had 67 total hits. Irmen led all CC players with a .412 average. Maria Pake had a team-best 12 hits and eight extra-base hits. Molly Wilde, who only played in three games on the trip due to an injury, tied for the team lead in RBI with six. Pake also drove in six runs in her 10 games played. Concordia hit three homers on the week with Wilde, Erholtz and Valerie Kolstad all going yard on one occasion.

UP NEXT: Concordia will return home to Moorhead but then head south to Mankato on Feb. 18-19 for the Viking Classic.