March 11, 2012 - A 14-hit attack and quality starting pitching helped the Concordia Cougars to an 8-5 win this morning over Macalester College of Minnesota. The win gave the Cougars seven wins in eight games on their annual season-opening trip to Phoenix, Arizona.
Coming off a 21-hit performance in yesterday's nightcap against UW-LaCrosse, the Cougars started hitting early today. With one out,
Steven Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) and
Nick Skala (Long Grove, IL/St. Viator) laced back-to-back doubles to leftfield for an early 1-0 lead.
The Cougars scored two in the second with the assistance of some shaky fielding by the Scots.
Rob Fioravanti (Evergreen Park, IL/H.S.) led off with a base hit after his foul pop 10 feet behind home plate was lost by the catcher in the high sky
. Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) and
Tony Barreto (Cicero, IL/Nazareth Academy) added hits to fill the bases, and
Robert Weis (Oak Creek, IL/H.S.) followed with a fly to right, scoring Fioravanti and moving Miller to third. Miller then scored when
Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet Township) lined hard to short. The shortstop threw to first looking to double off Barreto, but his throw skipped in the dirt and rolled away from the first baseman as an alert Miller dashed home.
Concordia made it 4-0 in the third
. Anthony Even (Franklin Park, IL/West Leyden) led off with a single and stole second. He moved to third on Fioravanti's fly ball and scored when Miller's hot smash to short was misplayed with the shortstop looking to throw home.
Dan Kluss (Niles, IL/Niles West) blanked Macalester through the first four innings, but the Scots cut into the lead in the fifth. A one-out triple and sacrifice fly scored the first run, and three straight singles made it a 4-2 game before Kluss retired the side.
Freshman
Kurt Kempema (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) took over for Kluss in the sixth and kept Macalester off the board. Concordia then struck for three in the seventh. The Cougars loaded the bases on a single, walk and hit batter, brining Eichholzer to the plate with two out. Eichholzer worked a 3-2 count, fouled off a couple of pitches and then lined a shot to the rightfield corner. All three runners crossed the plate with Euchholzer's triple making the score Cougars 7, Scots 2.
The Scots scored a run off Kempema in the eighth, but
Pat Conlin (Arlington Heights, IL/Rolling Meadows) came on to get the final two outs of the inning. Conlin gave up Macalester's two runs in the bottom of the ninth, but not until the Cougars gave him a little insurance in the top of the inning. Fioravanti beat out an infield hit and eventually scored as the third baseman bounced a throw to first on what would have been the third out but instead went as Concordia's eighth run.
Kluss earned the win with five innings of two-run, nine-hit ball. Cougar pitchers did not walk a batter in the game while striking out four.
"We just wanted to have a good approach offensively, defensively and on the mound for the trip," said Cougar head coach Adam Smith. "I think 7-1 is a great road trip, and I couldn't be prouder of our guys."
The Cougars return to action next weekend in Terre Haute, Indiana when they take on Alma College, Illinois Wesleyan University and host Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology in tournament action.
