Macalester Pitching Hands Cougars First Defeat of Season
March 11, 2011 - All through the first week of the 2011 baseball season, the Concordia Cougars' hitting had been as hot as the Arizona temperatures. This afternoon, the pitching staff of the Macalester Scots cooled off the Cougars' offense and squeezed out a 4-3 win to drop Concordia to 5-1.
Alex Ingram took the mound for Macalester in their season opener and became the first pitcher to hold the Cougars scoreless in the first inning of a game this season. The Cougars had the chance to put the pressure on Ingram early with a couple of base hits, but a pickoff at first and an inning-ending double play got the pitcher out of the jam.
Macalester drew first blood off of Concordia starter Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) in the second inning. With a man on first and two out, Cox walked Ezra Wise. Jimmy Belfont fell behind 1-2 in the count but reached out and lined a double to the gap in right-center, scoring both runners for a 2-0 leader.
Concordia came back with a single run in the third. Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet Township) tripled to the rightfield corner with one out, and Shawn Miller's (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) fly to rightfield brought Eichholzer home.
The Cougars gave the Scots a gift run in the fifth. Graham Brown doubled with one out and moved to third on a ground ball to second. Mitch Glasser hit a high chopper in the infield, but the throw to first was rushed and in the dirt as the run scored.
Once again, Concordia answered an opponent's run with one of its own. Miller led off with a double and moved up to third on a grounder to first. He was still on third with two out when catcher Nick Skala (Long Grove, IL/St. Viator) caught everyone by surprise, laying a perfect bunt down the third base line. Skala easily beat out the bunt while Miller crossed the plate to make the score Macalester 3, Concordia 2.
Macalester came back with what would eventually be the deciding run. Garrett Salzman singled, moved up on a sacrifice bunt and scored on Wise's single. Cam Stephens (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) and Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant) prevented further damage as they teamed up to throw out Wise at second.
The Cougars wasted a leadoff double by Gier in the seventh but looked to rally in the ninth. Skala singled and moved up to second on a balk. With one out, Gier greeted relief pitcher Nick Meerson with a single, Skala stopping at third. Steve Brown (Naperville, IL/Naperville North) ran for Gier and, on the first pitch to Stephens, took off for second as the pitch bounced in the dirt. The catcher elected to try and make a play on Brown on second, and Skala broke for home on the throw and made it without a play. Stephens followed with a bouncer to second, moving the tying run to third with two out. However, Meerson fanned Kevin Rush (Fort Wayne, IN/Concordia Academy) on a full-count pitch to end the game.
Cox threw a complete-game eight innings, allowing the four runs (three earned) on 11 hits, striking out four and walking one while getting two double-play grounders.
The Cougars will take on Simpson College of Iowa in a noon doubleheader on Saturday.
