April 22, 2012 - With two wins today over host Marian University, the Concordia Cougars remained in the thick of what promises to be a very competitive and thrilling finish to the Northern Athletics Conference's regular season. The Cougars' 9-2 and 5-1 victories moved them to 12-4 in NAC play (23-8 overall) and into a three-way tie for second place with Aurora University and Benedictine University; the three long-time rivals all sit one game behind 13-3 Rockford College.
As was the case in Saturday's two wins over Wisconsin Lutheran College, Concordia relied on the tried and true formula of solid starting pitching and timely hitting. In game one,
Ryan Thorsen (Lake Villa, IL/Grant) pitched 7 1/3 innings, allowing just two runs on five hits. The southpaw, now 5-2 on the season, has two wins and a no-decision over his last three starts with an ERA of 1.42 in 19 innings pitched.
Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) led the attack in game one with four of the Cougars' 15 hits. His RBI single in the first opened the scoring. Miller also figured in CUC's second run as he singled with one out in the fourth. He moved to third on a single by
Cam Stephens (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) and scored as Marian starter Mitchell Gardner uncorked a wild pitch.
The Cougars added gradually to their lead. Miller and
Rob Fioravanti (Evergreen Park, IL/H.S.) singled home runs in the sixth, and a sacrifice fly by
Anthony Even (Franklin Park, IL/West Leyden) in the seventh made it a 5-0 game. Concordia broke it open in the eighth as
Brenden Schulz (Kenosha, WI/Bradford) provided the big blow, a double that scored Fioravanti.
Nick Skala (Long Grove, IL/St. Viator) added a run-scoring single in the inning to extend the lead to 8-0. Marian scored their runs in the bottom of the eighth, but Miller doubled for his fourth hit leading off the ninth and scored on
Dan Eichholzer's (Elwood, IL/Joliet Township) base hit.
In game two,
Bobby Beelen (Wheeling, IL/H.S.) continued his fine first season with the Cougars, improving to 5-1 with seven strong innings. Beelen now has four wins and one no-decision in his last five starts with an ERA of 1.55 over 29 innings. The lefthander allowed just one run on five hits in today's outing, lowering his season ERA to 2.61.
Marian's Cory Martin looked to match Beelen's results, and he allowed the Cougars just one run over the first five innings. That came with two out in the second as Eichholzer reached on a single. A wild pitch and throwing error moved him around to third from where he scored on
Rich Santarelli's (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) single down the rightfield line.
Concordia gave Beelen some cushion in the sixth. Even led off with a hit, one of three for the Cougars' third baseman in the game. He stole second and scored on Stephens' single up the middle. Eichholzer bunted for a hit, and Santarello followed with his second run-scoring single of the game. The Cougars went on to load the bases, and Schulz drew a walk to force in the third run of the inning and make the score Cougars 4, Sabres 0.
Eichholzer's leadoff walk in the eighth led to Concordia's final run which was driven in by an infield grounder. Marian scored its lone run in the bottom of the eighth, but
Tim Milroy (Batavia, IL/Marmion Academy) came in to record the final six outs and wrap up the Cougars' fourth win of the weekend.
The Cougars will play Carthage College on Thursday, a makeup of the April 19 rainout.
