March 5, 2012 - For only the second game of the season, Monday's baseball game between Concordia-Chicago and Coe College was an anticipated marquee matchup. The Kohawks came in fresh off last year's 32-12 record and an NCAA III regional appearance while carrying a #25 preseason ranking for this year. All of that meant nothing to the Cougars as they backed the solid pitching of sophomore Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) with a 14-hit attack to post a 10-2 victory at the Snedigar Sportsplex in Chamdler, Arizona.

Cox and his mound opponent Sean Raisch matched zeroes over the first two innings before the Cougars broke through in the third. With one out, Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) went the other way with a Raisch pitch and singled to right. Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet Township) then reached first on a bunt as Raisch's throw to first was high. Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) then singled between third and short to score Zubrzycki and send Eichholzer to third. Nick Skala (Long Grove, IL/St. Viator) made it a 2-0 game with a fly to deep rightfield to score Eichholzer.

Coe came back with a two-out run in the bottom of the inning. Scott DeAngelis singled, and Tyler Leadley walked. Coe's All-American centerfielder Nick Stein then picked on the first pitch from Cox and singled sharply to left. The throw by Cam Stephens (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) was not in time to nail DeAngelis at the plate, but Skala quickly threw to third to catch Leadley attempting to advance.

The Cougars answered back in their half of the fourth. Singles by Anthony Even (Franklin Park, IL/West Leyden H.S.) and Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant) and a walk to Rob Fioravanti (Evergreen Park, IL/H.S.) loaded the bases. Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) looped a single to short rightfield; Even scored but Gier was cut down at the plate for the first out. Zubrzycki then grounded to the shortstop who got the out at second base but could not complete the double play. Fioravanti scored to make it Cougars 4, Kohawks 1.

The Cougars held on to the lead as Cox hit his stride. He allowed just two singles and a walk over the middle three innings while keeping a low pitch count. Cox was also helped out by a great leaping catch by third baseman Even who took away a potential leadoff double from Stein in the sixth.

Concordia began to put the game on ice in the seventh. Singles by Skala and Stephens started the inning with runners on the corners. Even then drew a walk with ball four getting by the catcher, allowing Skala to score and pinch-runner Nick Contorno (Park Ridge, IL/Maine South) to reach third. Gier's grounder to second scored Contorno for the second run of the frame. With Even on third, Fioravanti executed a perfect suicide squeeze to score the run and put Concordia's lead at 7-1.

The Kohawks tried to recover from the Cougars' three-spot. A leadoff double and two infield hits pushed a run across in the bottom of the inning. However, Cox got the next two batters to hit ground balls. The second one went for a 4-6-3 double play to end the threat with just one run. Cox left the game at that point with 83 pitches, 51 for strikes. He allowed the two runs on eight hits, striking out two and walking two.

A three-run eighth put the exclamation point on the victory. Miller singled home a run and later scored on an errant throw by the catcher on the front end of a double steal. Pinch-hitter Tony Barreto (Cicero, IL/Nazareth Academy) drove home the final run with a sacrifice fly.

Pat Conlin (Arlington Heights, IL/Rolling Meadows) hurled the final two innings for the Cougars. He put the first two hitters aboard in the ninth, but the Cougars caught a break on the next batter. A ground ball ticketed for rightfield hit the runner going to second for an automatic out. Conlin then got DeAngelis to hit to short, and the Cougars turned their third double play of the game to close it out.

Concordia (2-0) will play St. Mary's University of Minnesota on Tuesday morning. Freshman C.J. Selner (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran) will make his first collegiate start on the mound for Concordia.