It didn't happen anywhere near the way Hamline baseball coach
Jim Weyandt planned things.
But he will gladly take the final result.
Carter Johnson's RBI single in the top of the 9th inning drove in the winning run as Hamline claimed a 7-6 victory over Concordia Friday at CHS Field in the resumption of an April 9 game halted by darkness.
It was quite a story as to how we got to the conclusion.
Hamline was leading 5-2 after seven innings when play was first stopped on a cold, raw day in Moorhead. On a sunny day in downtown St. Paul, the Pipers went out quietly in the top of the eighth but the Cobbers were anything but in their half. CC sent nine batters to the plate, rapped out six hits and scored four runs to grab a 6-5 lead.
Will Tzavares, who would eventually get the win, got out of the messy frame by inducing a double play ground ball with the bases loaded.
In the ninth, pinch hitter
Eric Erb led off with a single and promptly sacrificed to second base.
Tyler Brick struck out but
Nolan Schoonveld drilled a single through the left side to score Erb and tie the game at 6. Schoonveld advanced to second on a the throw to the plate. As it turned out, that was key because Johnson, the third pinch hitter in the inning, singled to center to score Schoonveld and HU was back on top, 7-6.
Tzavares retired the first two CC batters but walked pinch hitter Tyson Tallackson. Matt Ferley ran for Tallackson and broke for second when a pitch bounced away from catcher
Hunter Rickaby (pictured). Rickaby retrieved the ball quickly and whipped a throw to second base. Tallackson tried to reverse course to no avail and
Brody Russell, playing shortstop ran him down in the baseline for the game's final out.
The result of the hectic two innings is that Hamline is now 5-5 in MIAC games and 13-14 overall. That puts them in the middle of seven team logjam for third and fourth place in the conference.
HU has little time to consider what happened. They are back at CHS Saturday, April 20 to host Macalester. The doubleheader begins at 1:00 p.m.
