Jan. 16, 2015 – The Concordia University Chicago baseball team will enter the 2015 season with an NCAA Division III World Series appearance as its ultimate goal, and their season schedule released today reflects the intensity of their preparations to achieve that goal. The Cougars, ranked ninth in the Collegiate Baseball preseason poll, will face several teams among the Division III elites including two 2014 World Series participants.
           
The season begins with a March 1-8 trip to Winter Haven, FL. Concordia-Chicago's first opponent on March 1 will be St. John Fisher, 31-11 last season. On March 6, the Cougars will take on Wheaton College of Massachusetts (27-16-1). The Collegiate Baseball poll identified both opponents in the "also receiving votes" category for the top 30 teams.
           
The Cougars return home after their March 8 game but will be back on an airplane the following weekend for four games in Tucson, AZ. Two of those games will be against third-ranked University of St. Thomas of Minnesota on March 13 and fourth-ranked Linfield College on March 14. Both teams competed at the 2014 Division III World Series in Appleton, WI last May with UST going 2-2 and Linfield (the defending 2013 D-III champions) going 0-2.
           
St. Thomas (39-9) and CUC met twice last season in Tucson. The Tommies took game one by a 26-6 score, but a determined Cougar team came back two days later to avenge themselves with a 6-5 come-from-behind victory. The game between CUC and Linfield (37-9) will be the first ever between the two schools.
           
Also on the 2015 schedule, the Cougars will play two games on March 21-22 against Washington University St. Louis (28-16) and a doubleheader against Webster University (37-7) on March 29 in Normal, IL.
           
"We always say that we'll play anyone any time," said CUC head coach Adam Smith (146-38, four seasons). "It's our goal to play the best teams we can, and our team is very excited for these early-season games. We hope that the challenges of this schedule will help us get to where we want to be in May."

The complete 2015 schedule for CUC baseball can be viewed at http://www.cucougars.com/schedule.aspx?path=baseball.