April 2, 2013 - Following a pair of losses to Benedictine University this past Saturday, the Concordia Cougars perhaps felt just a little more urgency than usual for early April as they hosted Rockford College this afternoon. While the Regents gave them a battle in both games, the Cougars got the job done with 3-1 and 6-3 victories. The sweep put the Cougars at 12-3 overall and evened their Northern Athletics Conference record at 2-2.

One swing put Concordia in control of game one. It came in the second inning after Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) led off with a base hit. Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) fell behind 0-2 but then took advantage of a mistake by Rockford starter Daryn Streed. Randerson launched Streed's offering to deep rightfield over the fence for the Cougars' first homer of the season.

The Cougars added to their lead in the fifth inning. Joe Moran (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame) drew a one-out walk. Moments later, an errant pickoff throw by the catcher sailed down the line as Moran motored all the way to third. Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) drove in the run with a double to left, giving Concordia a 3-0 lead.

Dan Kluss (Niles, IL/Niles West), Concordia's game one starter, had little trouble protecting the lead. The righthander allowed just two hits through the first six innings. Kluss retired the first two hitters in the seventh before Matt Grimes got one run back with a solo homer to centerfield. Rockford then followed Grimes' hit with a bad-hop single and an infield error to put the tying run on base. However, Kluss fanned Adrian Gameros on a 3-2 pitch to keep the Cougars in front.

Rockford made one final comeback attempt in the ninth as Scott Swiderek drew a leadoff walk. Kluss then retired Chris Holke on a fly to right before giving way to Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook). Grimes greeted Cox with a base hit, putting the tying run on base again. But Cox bore down and struck out Jake Gorsuch for the second out. Pinch-hitter Terry Wiltshire worked Cox to a full count before hitting the ball back up the middle. Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) backhanded the ball and, with the only play at first, made a strong throw that just nipped Wiltshire for the final out.

Kluss improved to 3-1 on the season, allowing just the one run on two hits through 8 1/3 innings. He walked one while striking out nine; the nine strikouts equaled Kluss' career-high set most recently in the season-opening win against St. Mary's of Minnesota.

The Cougars went after the sweep with lefty Kurt Kempema (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) on the mound. Concordia gave the southpaw a 1-0 lead in the second as Randerson led off with a single and moved to second on an error. A wild pitch moved Randerson to third base from where he scored on Santarelli's single to center.

Concordia's lead grew to 4-0 in the fourth. With one out, Huber singled to center. Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) followed with a liner that split the outfielders in right-center. By the time the ball was retrieved, Weis was at third with a triple while Huber scored. Weis scored moments later on a wild pitch, but the Cougars were not finished yet. Santarelli singled and scored with two out as Moran lined a double to the leftfield corner.

Rockford broke into the scoring column in the sixth on doubles by Cole Logemann and Wiltshire. With one out. Chris Senn singled to put runners on the corners and chase Kempema. Reliever Paul Kukulka (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) came in to face Grimes and got a ground ball to short; the Cougars got only the force at second as Wiltshire scored to make it a 4-2 game. But the threat ended there as Randerson gunned down Grimes trying to steal second.

The Cougars answered in the bottom of the inning. Moran reached on a one-out walk and Miller walked. With two out, Derek Binninger (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) laced a double past the third baseman and down the line as both runners scored to restore the Cougars' four-run lead.

Rockford's final run came in the eighth on Streed's single and Senn's double, but Kevin Pawell (Kenosha, WI/Bradford) retired Grimes on a grounder to end the uprising. Cox pitched the ninth inning and earned his second save of the day, fifth of the season. He allowed a two-out walk but retired Gameros on a soft liner to shortstop for the final out.

Concordia will host Maranatha Baptist Bible College on Saturday afternoon at 12:00.