March 22, 1996

by Colin Beltz

The Concordia baseball team suffered one of the toughest stretches in recent memory as they returned from California with a 4-7 record.

Mondayâs 10-5 loss to California-Baptist ended their 1-6 road trip.

Concordia started the game by scoring once in both the first and second innings of the game.

However, in the third inning, Cal Baptist answered back with a run.

Baptist then exploded for six runs in the bottom of the fifth inning and tacked on three more in the seventh to hand the Cobbers their sixth defeat of the trip.

This game was the most encouraging, according to Cobber Head Coach Bucky Burgau.

ãWe played hard right until the end,ä he said. ãCal Baptist might have been the best team we played.ä

On Sunday, Concordia fell to Menlo 8-5 and Pamona-Pitzer 11-10.

They were down to Menlo 3-0 early, but rallied in the bottom of the fourth inning to take a 4-3 lead, which they held until the fifth, when Menlo scored another run to even the score at 4-4.

The game remained tied until the sixth inning when Concordia scored once more to go ahead 5-4. Menlo answered back in the top of the eight with a run of their own to force extra innings. They eventually won in the 12th by scoring three runs and held of the Cobbers to win 8-5.

Junior Greg Salvevold led the Cobbers with a 4-6 performance at the plate. Fellow junior Randy Razidlo knocked in four of the Cobbersä five runs with three base hits.

This game was a good example of how the entire trip went. When Concordia was able to score some runs, they werenât able to hold the opponentsâ offense at bay. Burgau said the blame should not fall completely on the shoulders of the pitchers.

ÎFor the most part, the pitchers didnât do so bad,ä he said. ãIf I had to do the trip over again I would have played two less games.ä

On the five-day stay in California, the Cobbers played eight games. That translates to a lot of innings for pitchersâ arms to take, especially in the spring.

ãOur pitchers threw too many innings, Burgau said. ãTo a point, we werenât playing to win - we were playing to survive.ä

Another part of the trip that caused some concern was the Concordia defense. They made 10 errors in their 17-6 loss to Clairmont on Saturday and 7 miscues in a 20-1 drubbing from Redlands.

ãWe have a lot of the same personnel that we did last year,ä said Burgau. ãMaybe we didnät get the number of repetitions we did last year.ä

Last year, the Cobbers had nearly twice the practices after spring break than this year, so that may have played a part in the poor defense. However, Burgau pointed out that the California teams have been practicing outside since early January.

It doesnât help when the team plays top quality teams like the defending national champions from La Vern.

Against La Vern, the Cobbers again fell behind early 7-1 at the end of two innings.

ãThey were ahead of us offensively,ä he said. ãThey challenged our pitchers and fielders.ä

Even though the win-loss record doesnât show it, the trip can be considered a success for the Cobbers in some respects.

They now know where they need to improve and what holes need to be filled.

Also, Burgau believes they have a group of four solid starters in juniors Jim McCormick, Salvevold, Joe Cuchna and sophomore Robert Groscup.

Concordia is scheduled to play their next game March 29 at Valley City State and host their first doubleheader at 1 p.m. with U of M-Morris.