1-Run Decisions Go Against Cobbers On Day 3 In Florida
AUBURNDALE, Fla. (3/04/24)—The third day brought the most competitive games for Concordia on their spring trip to Florida. The Cobbers battled for 14 innings but, in the end, lost a pair of 3-2 decisions to Neumann (Pa.) and Rivier (N.H.).
Concordia (3-9) gave up all three runs in the second and third innings in the opener against Neumann and then had a 2-0 erased in the final three innings of Game 2 vs. Rivier before losing in extra innings.
Concordia 2, Neumann 3
The Cobbers fell behind 2-0 after the Knights scored two runs on three hits in the second inning. Concordia responded with a single run in the bottom of the inning when Gabby Brown brought home Morgan Linstad with a single through the right side of the infield after Linstad led off with a double to left field.
Neumann called the Cobbers' single run with a lone run of their own in the third inning. The game would stay at 3-1 until the bottom of the sixth inning.
Rosie Unglaub led off the sixth with a pinch-hit bunt single. She then stole second and came home to score on Brown's single to center field.
Concordia had a golden opportunity to tie the game in the bottom of the seventh but was robbed by an ESPN Top 10 diving catch. Kate Gulbranson came through with a 2-out single to center field and Linstad hammered a ball to left field that was somehow turned into an out by a spectacular diving catch.
The Cobbers outhit the Knights 9-8. Linstad and Brown led the CC offense with two hits each. Linstad was 2-for-4 from the No.4 spot in the order, while Brown was 2-for-3 and drove in both of the team's runs.
Kayley Bosc pitched the first 4.0 innings and gave up only one earned run on five hits. Mallory Leitner entered in the fifth frame and went the final 3.0 innings. She didn't allow a run and gave up only three hits.
Concordia 2, Rivier 3
The second game was all Concordia until the final two innings.
The Cobbers put the opening-game loss in the rearview mirror and bolted to a 2-0 lead with a pair of runs in the first frame. Kailee Falconer led off with a double to left-center field and scored on a ground out. The second run was scored by Unglaub, who once again used her speed to cause havoc with the defense. She followed Falconer's double with a bunt single and then stole second with Falconer on third base. She would eventually score on a wild pitch to give CC a 2-0 lead.
Starting pitcher Karissa Finnigan was in cruise control through the first four innings. She allowed three hits through that stretch. She conceded a single run in the fifth when Rivier was able to put together three singles.
Finnigan left the game in the seventh after the first three batters reached base on singles.
Lauren Staples entered the circle in the seventh with no one out and the score tied at 2-2. She was able to get out of a second and third jam by getting a strikeout, a fielder's choice ground ball which cut down a runner at the plate, and then a can-of-corn fly ball to right field.
The Cobbers weren't able to put a runner on base in the top of the eighth with the international base-runner rule in effect that placed a runner on second to start the frame. Rivier won the game with a wild pitch that allowed the runner on second to get to third and then a passed ball on a strikeout.
Rivier held a 9-6 edge in hits in Game 2. Falconer had three of the team's six hits. She was 3-for-4 from the leadoff spot. Unglaub, Finnigan and Gabriella Castro had the other hits for CC.
Falconer leads Concordia in hitting through the team's first 12 games. She is hitting .471 with a .735 slugging percentage.
UP NEXT: Concordia will have a day off on Tuesday before returning to play Carlow (Pa.) and Penn St. Berks on Wednesday, Mar. 6.