April 10, 2011 - Almost 10 years ago to the day, the Concordia Cougar baseball team scored a combined 47 runs in a doubleheader sweep. This afternoon, the Cougars put on an offensive display that nearly equaled that. The Cougars defeated their archrivals from Concordia Wisconsin by scores of 22-18 and 21-6 to improve to 8-0 in Northern Athletics Conference play.

 

While the Cougars' offensive display thrilled the fans that came out to celebrate the newly-upgraded baseball field, perhaps more memorable was the fact that the Cougars overcame a 13-0 deficit in game one. The Falcons sent 16 men to the plate in the second inning and scored 11 times off of Micah Buss (Columbus,IN/Colunbus North) and Ryan Ganther (Racine, WI/Racine Lutheran) after jumping out to a 2-0 lead in the first. 

 

Doubles by Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) and Brenden Schulz (Kenosha, WI/Bradford) got the Cougars on the board in the bottom of the second. They added two more in the third, one coming on Ryan Pacyga's (Forest Park, IL/Nazareth Academy) double - the first of his eight RBIs on the day.

 

The hosts turned up the heat with three runs in the fifth before driving Falcons' starter Derrick Pankow from the game with six runs in the sixth. Schulz's two-run double capped the inning, bringing the hosts within 13-12.

 

While the Cougars were climbing back into the game, Garett Balind (Bonfield, IL/Herscher) was neutralizing the Falcons' attack. Balind allowed just one hit and one walk from the third through sixth innings. However, Balind gave way to Pat Conlin (Arlington Heights, IL/Rolling Meadows) after the first two Falcons reached base in the seventh. The visitors would go on to score four runs in the frame, two of them unearned after a two-out infield error.

 

Unfazed by the Falcons' revival, the Cougars charged back with three on Cam Stephens' (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) two-run double and Shawn Miller's (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) RBI single. The Cougars trailed 17-15 after seven.

 

Tim Milroy (Batavia, IL/Marmion Academy) came in from the bullpen in the eighth and retired the Falcons 1-2-3. Feeling the excitement from the crowd, the Cougars put together a big bottom of the eighth. Eric Ignatowski (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North) drew a leadoff walk and stole second. Jay Kuczynski retired the next two batters, but Stephens kept the inning alive with a base hit to score Ignatowski. Pacyga then stepped up and golfed a shot to leftfield for a two-run homer - incredibly, the first homer of the game for either team - and the Cougars' first lead of the game at 18-17. The rally did not end there as Miller drove in a run with a base hit. Three Falcon errors amounted to three more runs as the Cougars put seven on the board for a 22-17 lead.

 

The Falcons tallied the final run in the ninth on a two-out homer by Harry Steldt, but Milroy retired the next batter to finish the three-hour, 40-minute marathon. Milroy earned the win, his first decision of 2011.

 

Game two began the same way as the first with the Falcons scoring twice in their first at-bat. This time, however, the Cougars wasted no time in retaliating as they put up eight runs in the bottom of the inning. Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet Township) contributed a two-run single to the outburst while Schulz scored twice and drove in a run.

 

The Falcons added two in the second, but the Cougars continued to swing away. Doubles by Stephens, Pacyga, Eichholzer and Ignatowski highlighted a five-run, six-hit inning as the hosts extended the lead to 13-4.

 

Each team scored a run in the third, the Cougars' tally coming on Stephens' first homer of the season. In the fourth, Pacyga continued his RBI binge with a two-run single.

 

The Cougar reserves took over the final few innings. Robert Frampton (North Riverside, IL/Riverside-Brookfield) and Nick Contorno (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) both contributed RBI hits to close out the team's 17-hit attack.

 

Dan Kluss (Niles, IL/Niles West) pitched the complete seven innings to earn his second win of the year. The freshman struck out three while allowing four earned runs on 13 hits.

 

The Cougars will resume Northern Athletics Conference play next weekend with action against Wisconsin Lutheran and Marian.