Snodgrass takes no hitter into 9th as part of CU sweep
PORTLAND, Ore. – Thanks to strong starts by Ryan McMonigle and Jason Snodgrass, the Concordia baseball team claimed a winning record with a two-game sweep of visiting Simpson (Calif.), winning 2-1, 3-0 on Saturday afternoon at Porter Park.
With the wins, Concordia (20-19, 11-7 NAIA West) took sole possession of third place in the NAIA West standings following College of Idaho's two losses Saturday to Oregon Tech.
The two teams will conclude the weekend series on Sunday with an 11 a.m. start
Game 1 Recap: Concordia 2, Simpson 1
Concordia triumphed in the opening contest of the series thanks to a pair of sixth-inning shots from Nate Esposito and Jordan Spencer that brought the Cavs back from a 1-0 deficit.
Esposito's RBI triple to deep centerfield tied the game by bringing home Cole Crosby, and CU took the lead on the next batter when Spencer's second hitdropped into left field to score Esposito.
The Cavs closed the door quickly on each subsequent Simpson rally, escaping with a hard-earned 2-1 victory.
For Simpson, the loss was about missed opportunities, as the Redhawks notched a hit in each of the final five innings but only capitalized once, on Jacob Parent's solo homer over the left wall in the fifth.
Ryan McMonigle went 8 1/3 innings and got the win, improving to 2-5 on the year, while Austin Hadley earned his sixth save of the season after recording the final two outs.
For the game, Simpson outhit Concordia 6-5 and had no errors to the Cavaliers' one.
Game 2 Recap: Concordia 1, Simpson 0
The Cavaliers finished off the doubleheader sweep by scoring three runs in the fifth inning while starter Jason Snodgrass tossed a complete game one-hitter.
Snodgrass retired the first 24 batters he faced to enter the ninth with a no-hitter still in play. The senior settled for a one-hitter after surrendering his lone base hit on the first at-bat of the inning. Snodgrass hit the next batter to place the go-ahead run on base but quickly eliminated the Redhawks with three outs where the ball did not leave the infield.
Concordia had a hit in each of the first three innings, but the game was still scoreless in the fifth after the Cavs left several runners stranded. Hunter Weiss got the offense going in the fifth, the first of four consecutive hits for the hosts.
The string included back-to-back doubles from Esposito and Trent Calmer and ended with all three runners scoring after Spencer singled to bring Esposito home.
Striking out 10 and walking just one, Snodgrass improved to 4-5 on the year with the win.