Buruse, Bos Lead Cavs to Doubleheader Split against No. 5 LC State
BOX SCORES - GAME 1 - GAME 2
PORTLAND—Cole Buruse and Alex Bos led the Concordia baseball team to a doubleheader split against No. 5 Lewis-Clark State at Porter Park on Saturday. Buruse and the Bos led the Cavs to a 7-3 win in the first game of the doubleheader before the Warriors took the second game, 13-2.
Buruse highlighted a five-run third inning with a three-run double in the first game for the Cavs, while Bos threw the first 8.1 innings, and did not give up a second run to the Warriors until the Cavs led 7-1 in the ninth. The Cavs’ win was just the second time a team had beaten the Warriors by more than two runs this season.
The Cavs moved to 18-20 overall and 9-10 in the NAIA West with the split, while the Warriors moved to 29-9 overall and 15-4 in the NAIA West.
Weather permitting, the teams will conclude their four-game series with a final game at 11 a.m. tomorrow, Sunday, April 7.
Game 1—Concordia 7, Lewis-Clark State 3
Cole Buruse’s three-run double in the third, coupled with a strong 8.1 innings from CU starter Alex Bos, led the Cavs to a 7-3 victory over the fifth-ranked Warriors in the first game Saturday.
Buruse’s hit broke open the game for the Cavs, as it turned a tight, 3-0 lead into a 6-0 lead.
Bos, meanwhile, maintained the lead for the Cavs from the mound, as he only gave up three hits to the Warriors between the second and ninth innings.
The Warriors made things interesting in the ninth, as they brought the potential tying run to the plate with the bases loaded, one out and the Cavs up 7-3, but CU third baseman Jared Young turned a game-ending double play to get the Cavs out of the jam.
The Warriors initially went up in the game with a single run in the second, but the Cavs answered right away to tie things 1-1 heading into the third. The Cavs then exploded for five runs in their half of the third, punctuated by Buruse’s bases-clearing double.
The Cavs started the rally in the third with a bit of luck, as the team’s first four batters reached on singles despite three of the four balls coming off the bat awkwardly. Young hit the fourth single in a row for the Cavs, which plated C.J. Watson for the first run of the inning. Ben Talbot then plated the second run of the inning for the Cavs when he was hit by a pitch with one out in the inning.
Overall, the Cavs outhit the Warriors 13-10 in the game, with the 13 hits representing the second-highest total in a single game for the Cavs this season. Individually, Buruse went 2-for-4 with four runs batted in to lead the Cavs from the plate in the game. Besides him, Carl Beckert went 3-for-4 with a double, two runs scored and an RBI, Watson went 2-for-4 with a run scored, while leadoff hitter Blake Drake went 2-for-5 with a double.
On the flip side, Kyle Blackwell went 3-for-5 with a double and an RBI for the Warriors, while Brady Steiger went 2-for-3 with a run scored.
On the mound, Bos earned the win for the Cavs, while Blake Evetts, who came on to close things out for the Cavs in the ninth, picked up his first save of the season. Meanwhile, the Warriors’ starter, Carsen Nylund, picked up the loss after giving up seven runs in 5.1 innings pitched.
Game 2—Lewis-Clark State 13, Concordia 2
The Warriors’ offense exploded in the second game Saturday, as they scored 12 runs over the fifth, sixth, seventh and eighth innings en route to a 13-2 victory over the Cavs.
The game had been close before the Warriors rallied, with the only run of the game to that point coming on a solo home run from the Warriors’ Brady Steiger in the top of the first.
The Warriors flipped the game in a hurry, though, scoring five runs in the fifth, two each in the sixth and seventh and three more in the eighth. All told, the Warriors sent 32 batters to the plate between those four innings as they put the game out of reach.
Steiger and Jake Shirley led the attack for the Warriors, as Steiger finished 2-for-3 with two runs scored, four runs batted in, three walks and a home run, while Shirley finished 3-for-5 with two runs scored, two runs batted in and a walk.
The Cavs did not make things hard on the Warriors, either, as Cavalier pitchers combined to hit six Warrior batters and walk 11 more.
The Cavalier offense, meanwhile, had a chance to make things interesting with the game still 1-0 in the bottom of the fourth, but had three runners thrown out on the base paths during the inning. The three throw outs came as the Cavs’ first three batters all reached on singles, making the inning one of the oddest three up, three downs possible.
The Cavs did break through for single runs in the sixth and eighth innings, but by then the Warriors had put distance between them and the Cavs.
Blake Drake led the Cavs offensively in the game, going 2-for-3 on a pair of singles.
Steve Thompson picked up the win from the mound for the Warriors, as he struck out seven batters while only giving up one run through six full innings of work. On the flip side, CU starter Jon Yearout picked up the loss after giving up six runs on five hits through five innings.