NORTHFIELD, Minn. -- Junior shortstop Michael Johnson (Minneapolis, Minn./Blake) belted grand slams in consecutive innings to power the Knights a 10-2 win over Concordia in game one. It was Carleton’s second conference victory in as many days. The Cobbers bounced back to split the doubleheader with an 11-0 triumph.
After walking in her first plate appearance, Johnson stepped to the plate in the bottom of the second with the bases full. She drove a pitch from Erin Johnson over the wall for the Knights’ first roundtripper of the season, giving Carleton its first lead of the game at 5-1.One frame later, she found herself in a similar situation, this time facing reliever Kelsey Jones with two out. Johnson’s drive landed beyond the left-centerfield wall this time, breaking the Knights’ records for home runs and RBI (8) in a game as she sealed the victory. Johnson is the seventh MIAC player to go deep twice in the same game this season, while her eight RBI is tops in the conference dating back at least through the 2002 campaign.
Of her four career home runs, three of them have come with the bases loaded. The other was at Saint Mary’s as a rookie on April 28, 2007. The Knights have hit four grand slams since 2001, with Vickie Gunderson accounting for the other on April 23, 2002 versus Bethel.
Johnson continues to lead the team in hitting with a .333 average but had collected only four RBI from the top spot in the lineup prior to today's outburst. Her offensive support was more than enough for pitcher Mari Jo Long (Sr./Willmette, Ill./New Trier), who tossed a one-hitter with four strikeouts for the win.
The Knights’ offense that was so dominant in game one was shutdown by Jones in game two. Carleton managed only two hits and saw its final 15 batters retired.
Concordia catcher Amanda Michaelson snapped a scoreless tie with her third-inning drive over the left-centerfield wall. Her apparent two-run homer, however, did not end up in the scorebook as she was called out after removing her batting helmet after rounding third base.
That extra run ended up not costing the Cobbers much as Concordia scored eight times in the sixth inning to remove any doubt about the outcome.
The Knights will be back in action at Bell Field on Thursday when they host Bethel University at 4:00 p.m.
