MOORHEAD, Minn. (5/06/10)-- One regular-season goal down. One regular-season goal to go. The Cobbers once again used a pair of gems from the Pelican Rapids' pitchers and received another late-game dramatic home run in posting a 5-3, 4-1 sweep over St. Mary's on Thursday in Moorhead.

With the two wins the Cobbers achieve their first regular-season goal of earning a spot in the postseason. The sweep allows CC to become the first conference team to clinch a spot in the MIAC playoff tournament. The Cobbers also earn their first conference playoff spot since the 2005 season. Concordia will now turn their attention to the second regular-season goal of winning the MIAC regular season championship. The Cobbers are tied with St. Thomas at 13-5 in league play with two games left to play. CC can clinch at least a share of the regular season crown by winning both of their games against Bethel on Saturday. The Tommies play at third-place St. Olaf on Saturday.

Adam Johnson and Andrew Skow-Anderson continued their late-season pitching prowess as they earned the wins for Concordia. Johnson went 6.0 innings in the opener and allowed only two earned runs and six hits. He struck out three in picking up his fifth win of the year and third straight victory. Skow-Anderson was masterful in the nightcap as he only gave up three hits in pitching his second complete game of the year. Skow-Anderson also lowered his season ERA to 1.95.

The game-winning long ball in the second game came courtesy of sophomore Tony Emmerich. Emmerich, who was inserted into the lineup as a defensive replacement in the fifth inning, was hitting .239 coming into the day. He made the most of his only at-bat in the second game as he drilled a 3-1 pitch over the left-center field fence to break open a 1-1 tie and give Concordia a 4-1 lead heading into the top of the seventh.

That was all that Skow-Anderson needed to finish the game. After giving up a one-out walk in the seventh, he induced a ground ball double play to end the finale. It was his second straight complete game and he has now given up only seven hits and three runs in his last two starts.

Skow-Anderson gave up a one-out single in the first inning and then made an errant pickoff throw to send the runner to second. It was an almost identical start to his last game against Gustavus. Skow-Anderson then settled down and retired 15 straight batters until he stubbed his toe by allowing a single run in the fifth.

The Cobbers scored their only run in the first five innings when Michael Carlson doubled home Jake Krause in the third inning.

Carlson was the only player in the second game on either team with more than one hit. He was 2-for-2 and drove in a run and scored a run.

The first game was about Adam Johnson and three miscues by the Cardinals. Johnson pitched the first six innings and retired the first seven batters he faced. By that time CC had staked him to a 4-0 lead. The Cobbers continued their early-game success by scoring three times in the opening frame. Johnson helped himself by delivering a huge two-out double that scored Carlson and Dan Wackler. Concordia has now outscored their opponents 73-26 in the first two innings of games this year.

Johnson was cruising along before giving up one run in the fourth and then two more in the fifth. He gave up four of the six hits in the game during those two innings. Johnson got out of a huge jam in the sixth inning when he picked a runner off second base with runners on first and second and two outs. It was the second base runner he picked off during the game.

Ryan Johnson pitched a perfect seventh inning to record his sixth save of the year. He has now struck out 23 in 22 innings of work. He is now one save away from tying Chris Coste for third place on the single-season save list for Concordia.

St. Mary's (12-25/4-13) outhit the Cobbers 6-5 in the first game. SMU had six players get one hit each while Krause was the only CC player with more than one hit. He went 2-for-3 and scored a run.

Concordia will finish off the regular season when they host Bethel on Saturday, May 8 at 1 p.m. If the Cobbers can win both games they will earn their first conference championship since the 1995 campaign.