Softball 4/6/01 -- Concordia-Moorhead 4-4, Augsburg 3-3 

Boxscore Game 1
Boxscore Game 2 

STORY FROM CONCORDIA COLLEGE SPORTS INFORMATION
MOORHEAD, Minn. (4/6/01) -- Concordia College-Moorhead finally started its Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletic Conference schedule after a 26 day layoff, and swept visiting Augsburg College in a doubleheader at Jake Christiansen Field on Friday afternoon, winning both games by 4-3 scores.

The Cobbers used timely hitting to score go-ahead runs late in both games. Concordia (5-1-0, 2-0-0) also received stellar pitching from Erin Gunderson (Jr., Princeton, Minn.) and Christine Moen (Jr., Glenwood, Minn.) to open conference play on a positive note. The pair only allowed eight hits in the two games, and struck out nine Augsburg (7-9-0, 0-2-0) batters in the 14 innings.

In game one, Concordia scored the go-ahead run in the bottom of the fifth when Shyla Wilson (So., Cohasset, Minn.) singled home pitcher Gunderson, who had doubled in the at-bat immediately prior. Wilson, who went 2-for-3 with two RBI's, led the Cobber offensive attack. Third-baseman Amanda Schindeldecker (Jr., Menahga, Minn.) continued her early-season hitting tear by adding two more hits, she has now hit safely in five of the six games the Cobbers have played this year.

Rachael Ekholm (Jr., Richfield, Minn.) struck out six Cobbers in a losing pitching effort for the Auggies. Kristen Lideen (Fr., Champlin, Minn./Champlin Park HS) went 2-for-3 and scored Augsburg's first-inning run. She drove in the other two Auggie runs on a second-inning double.

The nightcap played to a different scenario as the Cobbers bolted to a 4-1 lead early and then hung on for the one-run victory. Concordia scored three runs in the third inning and one more in the fourth to open a three-run lead before Augsburg was able to scratch across one run in the sixth and one in the seventh. Moen struck out six and forced eight other ground ball outs in containing the Auggie attack. Once again Wilson led the hit parade for Concordia as she had two more hits and finished the series 4-for-6. Becky Bouwman (So., Glenwood, Minn.) was 1-for-2 and scored the game-winning run in the fourth when she led off the inning with a walk and eventually scored when Kathy Braun (Jr., Willmar, Minn.) singled to center.

Ekholm pitched again in the second game for Augsburg, striking out four. The Auggies were limited to four hits, all singles. Sam Kronschnabel (So., St. Paul, Minn./Cretin-Derham Hall HS) scored twice for the Auggies, both coming when she reached home on wild pitches. Jennie LaManna (Jr., South St. Paul, Minn.) had the other Auggie run, driven in on a sixth-inning single by Heather Yerbich (Fr., Blackduck, Minn.).

Concordia will now go back to the waiting game as their doubleheader with St. Olaf, scheduled for Saturday (4/7), has been pushed back to April 16. The next game on the Cobbers' schedule is set for Monday, April 9 at 4 p.m. at home against Hamline.

Augsburg returns to action on Saturday at 1 p.m., hosting St. Benedict in a conference doubleheader at Anderson-Nelson Field. The game will be played inside the Anderson-Nelson Field air structure, one of four doubleheaders scheduled for indoors this season before the "bubble" is deflated and removed on April 22.