What do you do when you reach rock bottom? After splitting a mid-week double-header in Aberdeen, SD against Northern State we had officially reached rock bottom. Not to say that losing to Northern State is bottom, but it was the way we played. We booted routine ground balls, we dropped pop-ups, and we didn’t pitch with conviction. Just about the only positives were the 38 runs we scored in the twin bill. We were playing the game as individuals, and not as a team.

We took a couple days of soul searching and practice, and then packed our bags to head west. This time we travelled just 75 miles to the campus of St. Cloud State University. We had a weekend NSIC four-game series with the Huskies. The Huskies came in ranked as high as 13^th in some national polls, and 2^nd in the Central Region. They carried in a 24-5 record, with a league leading 11-1 NSIC record. They were confident, as they should be. Their starting rotation carried a 23-3 record, while our team record stood at just 10-20. We had to face the top dogs of the NSIC Saturday and Sunday.

There was a different feeling throughout the team on Saturday as we stretched out and prepared for the days games. We were not looking for the individual statistics or personal accolades, but finding away to win baseball games, as a team.

St. Cloud State came out hot and chased CU starter Ben Lemke (Rosemount, MN) after three innings. The Huskies stormed out to a 9 to 3 lead, and tacked on 4 more in the 5^th off reliever Zach Goodwin (Mahtomedi, MN), all four were unearned. Down 13 to 6 in the sixth inning we desperately needed to save pitching for the remaining. Coach McKenzie called upon myself, Cody Wilcoxson (Aurora, CO) to record the final nine outs and not only keep us in this game, but give ourselves a chance to set up our pitching staff for the remaining three games. I threw the final three frames allowing three runs on six hits. Our bats came alive in the sixth, seventh, eighth, and ninth as they have all year, but it wasn’t quite enough and the final tally ended up 16 to 10 in favor of SCSU. It might be another loss, but we were starting to come together as a team, and have people fill much needed roles. Goodwin’s two innings and my three innings would become more and more important as the weekend went on.

Game two was a similar script early. Hot Husky bats chased CU starter Chris Peterson (St. Anthony, MN) in the second inning with a 5 to 1 lead. Coach again called on a young reliever, this time Hogan Jackson (Oakdale, MN). Hogan was outstanding holding the SCSU bats quiet for 2 and 2/3 innings of play. While Hogan silenced the Husky bats, the CU bats came alive. We scratched our way back to a 7 to 5 lead on stellar hitting performances by Senior Brenden Furrow (Johnston, IA) 2 for 4, Junior John Stockton (Oakdale, MN) 2 for 4, and Junior Blake DeVries (Eden Prairie, MN) who went 3 for 3 with 5 RBI’s and 2 clutch homeruns. Reliever Nick Anderson (Plymouth, MN) notched his team leading third save of the season by recording the final nine outs of the game. At the end of the game after everyone had filled their role and given us our best chance of winning. When it was all said and done the TEAM had won 8 to 7.

We were all excited to have won the game, and our coaches were even more excited the way we had done it, as a team, with people filling roles rather than carrying the weight of the team on their shoulders. We still had two more games on Sunday to play, and we needed to come out with the same intensity that we had in Saturday’s games.

Sunday sent Concordia starter Andy Fagely (Mahtomedi, MN) to the mound at beautiful Putz Field in St. Cloud, MN. Fagely delivered the performance of the year in conference play. St. Cloud State took a 3 to 2 lead in the bottom of the eighth when Jordan Smith (Willmar, MN) connected with an opposite field two-run homer. We had lead all game but we found ourselves down to our final three outs. Brenden Furrow who has been one of our offensive leaders all season lead off the ninth with an infield single, a hustle play from a veteran. Then Logan Bouts (Hopkins, MN) a hitter who has had his ups and downs all season delivered a clutch single over the second baseman’s glove. Then Blake DeVries stepped to the plate. In one of the biggest moments of the season DeVries connected with a line drive that soared past the centerfield fence to give the Golden Bears a 5 to 3 lead. With the lead back and still needing to retire SCSU in the ninth there was a decision to be made, but Andy Fagely solved it. He wanted the ball in the ninth and the coaches gave it to him. It was his game and he deserved to finish it. With the entire bench on the top step of the dugout Fagely induced two ground balls, and then struck out the final SCSU hitter to end his complete game gem in style. Fagely scattered six hits over the nine innings while striking out seven Husky hitters. It was the pitching performance we desperately needed, but it wasn’t all individual. He was backed by stellar defense, one of our first error-less games of the season. Not to mention DeVries’ two homeruns and a 3 for 4 performance by Bouts. All 25 guys were involved in every pitch of the game. It was a great victory for our team.

We still had one more game to go in the series, and we had ourselves in a position to win our first NSIC series of the year. Taking 3 of 4 from St. Cloud State would be huge. We sent freshman lefty Griff Kilber (Chanhassen, MN) to the mound. For the third time in the series SCSU chased our starter early with Kilber leaving with a runner on first and no outs in the third inning. Junior Ryan Rodeck (Lino Lakes, MN) came in and delivered a great relief performance. As we had all weekend we used good pitching and defense to hold SCSU after their hot start, and timely hitting to chip away. After a two-run fifth inning the game was locked up at 5 to 5. The score stayed that way into extra innings. With two outs in the bottom of the eighth sophomore Joey Benke (Roseau, MN) came to the plate against Concordia reliever Nick Anderson. Benke took an awkward swing at an outside fastball, but it caught the large part of the bat and cleared the left field fence for a walk-off homerun. It was Benke’s second extra inning walk-off homerun of the year against CU, as he had the same feat in the Metrodome earlier this season. The loss was a crushing one, but again we played as a team. The loss stings and it gave us a series split. But a lot more good came out of the weekend than bad, and that idea was echoed by the coaches in our post game meetings. We played hard, and the weekend should give us the confidence to know that we can play with even the top teams of the NSIC. We left St. Cloud with a 12-22 record (4-9 in conference), but we left as a team rather than a group of individuals.

If we can keep the momentum and confidence we gained this weekend rolling, it should be fun to watch us play over our remaining 18 conference games. We have two more with Northern State at home this Wednesday, followed by a home weekend four-game series against the University of Minnesota-Crookston. If we can pitch, field, and swing the bats the way we are capable we have a chance to climb the standings and make a run for the conference tournament.

Blake DeVries was named the NSIC player of the week for his performance against Northern State and St. Cloud State this week. DeVries went 11 for 22 at the plate this week knocking in 13 runs including six homeruns. He had two multi-homer games against St. Cloud State. Blake now has 11 long balls on the year.

Golden Bear Homerun Race:

DeVries, 11

Furrow, 7

Lippincott, 7

3 players tied, 2

4 players tied, 1

In-Season Notes:

Next Game: Northern State (Barnes Field), Double-header, Wednesday, April 14^th, 2010, 2:00pm

Overall Team Record: 12-22

Central Region Record: 7-16

Conference Record: 4-9

Conference Standing: 9^th (Week of April 12th)

If any readers have any feedback or questions that they would like answered please feel free to email SID@csp.edu, and I will answer them in future blogs or through email if they are better suited to be answered that way. Personal thoughts from readers are always appreciated.

-Go Golden Bears-