Concordia Baseball Team Takes Heart in Its Recent Offensive Turnaround

Concordia baseball Coach Jackie Schniepp saw few signs of hope entering the Golden State Athletic Conference season.

The Eagles were 3-9 with a batting average under .200 and seemed to have lost confidence in themselves after losing 10-1 to San Francisco State and 14-3 to Sonoma State.

“We weren’t hitting and we weren’t playing defense,” Schniepp said. “Our pitching was OK, but you have to have at least two out of three.”

The trend appeared to be continuing in the conference-opening doubleheader when Point Loma Nazarene, ranked No. 7 in the preseason NAIA poll, took an 11-1 lead into the eighth inning. But the Eagles staged an improbable rally.

Concordia scored 10 runs--including seven after two were out--in the top of the eighth to tie the score. Point Loma scored a run in the ninth to win, but Schniepp noticed a change in the Eagles.

“That rally proved to our guys that we could come back from anything and play with one of the top teams,” Schniepp said.

In the second game, they proved they could beat one. Concordia lefty Jake Miller pitched a complete-game three-hitter in the seven-inning game, which the Eagles won, 4-2. Tuesday, Jeff Daniel, a sophomore right-hander from Rancho Santiago College and Edison High, shut out Westmont, allowing four hits in the 2-0 victory.

So after three conference games, the Eagles (5-10, 2-1) are in a four-way tie for first place with Azusa Pacific, Point Loma Nazarene and Cal Baptist.

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Such success is a soothing balm for the sting of negative attention that occurred after Concordia lost to Southern California College’s Ila Borders last month. A Sports Illustrated article was especially disconcerting because it said Concordia players were cursing Borders during a third-inning jam.

Cursing has serious implications at a Christian institution such as Concordia, Schniepp said.

“It looks really bad because it goes against what we are trying to do here,” Schniepp said. “I don’t know what the article meant by cursing. My position on the field is the third-base box. I was the closest one to it, and if I heard anything of poor taste or any profanity, I would have dealt with it right then. We don’t allow that to happen here.”

SCC Coach Charlie Phillips said he heard no cursing in the game, and Schniepp said the plate umpire, contacted after the article appeared, also said he heard nothing untoward.

But Phillips said Borders often gets more than the usual razzing when she is on the mound.

“Let’s just say they are not very receptive all the time,” Phillips said. “That’s up to the coaches to control and you hope she gets the respect she deserves. It’s not men against woman out there. It’s team against team.

“Whatever was said was said, but I’m not going to pick out specific people and say they said this or that. I would be crazy to do that.”

For her part, Borders said she doesn’t hear anything while she’s on the mound.

“You can hear screaming, but I don’t know what the heck they are saying,” she said. “I could care less, actually, because if there was another guy out there they’d be doing the same thing.”

“It’s no biggie to me. I would have done it too. It’s baseball out there.”

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Ila watch: People magazine was at SCC Wednesday working on a profile of Borders, and Phillips said CBS Evening News will air a feature on her Friday. Phillips said Borders’ next start probably won’t come until March 19 at home against Linfield (Ore.) College, but that she will be available in relief against The Master’s today in Newhall, at Westmont Saturday and at home against Concordia Tuesday.

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Charles Ross, a junior forward for Pacific Christian, was named to the all-tournament team after leading the Royals to the final of the National Christian College Athletic Assn. Division II tournament Saturday in Springfield, Mo.

Ross, who averaged 33 points and 18 rebounds in the three games, had 29 points and 17 rebounds in the 78-77 loss to Central Bible (Mo.) in the title game.

The Royals, who finished 28-17, had a chance to win in the final seconds, but Troy Rodarmel’s shot missed as time ran out. Sophomore guard Eric Bajus also made the all-tournament team and Lee Erickson was named the outstanding coach of the tournament.

Notes

After getting its first victory of the season last week, the Chapman baseball team has put together a modest winning streak. Monday, the Panthers (3-12) beat Pennsylvania, 5-3, when James Thomas went the distance and gave up six hits and one earned run. Tuesday, Chapman beat Whittier, 5-4, and plays a two-game series with Claremont-Mudd Friday and Saturday.