April 17, 2012 - The first of two non-conference games this week for the Concordia Cougars resulted in a 12-10 loss to Wheaton College at Lee Pfund Stadium in Carol Stream.

The Cougars played from behind for most of the day, the biggest damage coming from a six-run fourth inning. Concordia fell behind 2-0 after one inning but came back quickly in the second. With one out, Cam Stephens (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) singled for the first of his three hits on the day. Rob Fioravanti (Evergreen Park, IL/H.S.) drew a walk, and Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet Township) dropped a single just inside the rightfield line to load the bases. Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian), Brenden Schulz (Kenosha, WI/Bradford) and Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) all followed with run-scoring singles, WEis' hit giving the Cougars a 3-2 lead.

An error on a potential double play ball gave Concordia another run in the third, but Wheaton matched it in their half of the inning on Ryan Miller's triple and Justin Zeller's single off Cougar starter C.J. Selner (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran).

Wheaton took the lead for good in the fourth as their first six batters reached base. A couple of infield hits put the Thunder in business, and a couple of walks on close pitches kept the hosts' momentum building. A double play ball gave Concordia a chance of escaping the inning down by only three, but the Thunder came through with a pair of two-out runs to go up by a 9-4 score.

The Cougars came right back in the fifth. Anthony Even (Franklin Park, IL/West Leyden) led off with a double and scored on Stephens' one-out single. After a strikeout, hits by Eichholzer and Santarelli produced a second run. With Schulz at the plate, the runners broke for second and third. The throw to third by the catcher was in the dirt and carried past the third baseman down the line. Both runners came in on the error, and the Cougars were back within one run at 9-8.

Kevin Pawell (Kenosha, WI/Bradford) retired Wheaton 1-2-3 in the fifth, but the Thunder extended its lead in the sixth. Miller doubled to start the rally and scored on Trey Martin's one-out single. Later in the inning, John Jensen-Johnson delivered a clutch two-out single to make it a three-run inning and a 12-8 lead.

The Cougars went quietly in the seventh but made one final push in the eighth. Two singles and a walk loaded the bases with one out. Even then singled between first and second, scoring Santarelli and Schulz to cut Wheaton's lead to two. Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) singled to load the bases again, but Martin fanned Stephens and Fioravanti to put an abrupt end to the rally. The Cougars did not muster anything against Martin in the ninth, instead going down to their eighth loss of the season.

Concordia (21-8) returns to action Thursday with a game at Carthage College in Kenosha.