Split Streak Comes To An End At #17 St. Mary's

WINONA, Minn. (4/16/24)---Concordia's conference split streak came to an end in Winona as they lost 10-2 and 6-1 to No.17-ranked St. Mary's. 

 

The Cobbers are now 16-12 overall and 4-8 in the MIAC, while the Cardinals remain unbeaten in conference play, win for the 19th straight game and move to 29-3 in all games and 14-0 against league opponents.

 

Game 1: Concordia 2, St. Mary's 10 (6 innings)

Concordia scored a single run in the fifth and sixth innings in the opener and both came via the long ball. 

 

St. Mary's "nickel and dimed" the Cobbers until the sixth inning when they put up four runs to end the game early. SMU was able to scratch out single runs in the first, second, third and fifth frames and posted a 2-run fourth inning. 

 

The Cobbers got on the board in the fifth when Bailey Plante connected on her first collegiate home run to lead off the inning. She deposited the ball over the left-field fence to bring Concordia within four at 5-1. 

 

First-year designated player Brooklyn Hofer added to the college firsts as she got a hold of a 2-out pitch and cranked it over the right-field fence. The HR was her first as a Cobber and brought her team-leading RBI total to 15.

 

Concordia had four hits in Game 1. Besides the long balls from Plante and Hofer, Danielle Lyon had a single to right field in the fourth and Hofer doubled her hit total with a single in the first frame. 

 

Lauren Staples started in the circle for CC and went 4.0 innings. She struck out a pair and allowed four earned runs. Danica Rath pitched the fifth and sixth innings and struck out one. 

 

A trio of 2-run innings proved to be the difference in the finale. 

 

Concordia's lone run in Game 2 came in the fourth inning. Senior Rosie Unglaub started the inning with a double to left field. Hofer sent Unglaub to third on a ground out and scored on Corra Utash's ground ball out. 

 

The Cobbers had four other hits in the finale. Unglaub went 2-for-3 and had another double in the sixth inning as she posted her first career 2-double game. 

 

Hofer, Morgan Guggisberg and Cate Kehoe recorded the other base hits for CC. 

 

Mallory Leitner had her best game of the year in the circle. She held the league-leading St. Mary's offense, which entered the game with a .380 batting average, to eight hits and four earned runs. She also struck out three as she pitched her second complete game of the season. 

 

Brooklyn Dodger: Cobber 2-sport athlete Brooklyn Hofer leads the team in hitting with a .415 average. That mark is No.6 in the MIAC this season. She also has a team-high .420 on-base percentage and a .634 slugging percentage. Her slugging percentage is also sixth in the conference. Hofer also leads the team in hits (34), doubles (11), triples (2) and total bases (52). She has a hit in eight of the 12 MIAC games and 20 overall contests.    

 

Concordia will return to MIAC action when they play at Bethel on Saturday, Apr. 19 at 1 p.m.