May 17, 2013 - The Concordia Cougars' undefeated run in the NCAA III Central Regional and a 16-game winning streak fell to earth this evening with an 8-2 loss at the hands of Webster University. The loss put the Cougars (38-6) in a situation where they will need to beat Augustana College in a rematch at noon on Saturday to advance to the championship game of the regional. If successful, Concordia would then face Webster in a winner-take-all with a berth in the Division III World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin as the prize.
Friday's loss was a combination of the Cougars unable to get much of anything going and the Gorloks executing in several situations to perfection. Concordia looked to take the lead in the first as they had in the previous two games but Webster starter Dylan Dean Smith won a lengthy battle against Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) to strand two runners and keep the game scoreless.
Webster took the lead in the second against Concordia starter Ryan Thorsen (Lake Villa, IL/Grant Community). Cleanup hitter Mike Rainbolt bunted for a leadoff hit. Another single and a sacrifice put two runners in scoring position, and Ian Foege's first-pitch single up the middle plated both runs.
The Cougars looked to answer as Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) smashed one down the line past the third baseman and motored into second base. Kyle Huber's (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) deep fly to right let Weis take third easily. Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) then sent Smith's first-pitch fastball back up the middle for an RBI single, cutting the Gorloks' lead to 2-1.
Each team added a run in the third. Webster's run was artfully manufactured by way of two infield singles, a sacrifice bunt and a sacrifice fly. Concordia's run came as Shawn Miller (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) tripled past the diving attempt of the rightfielder. He scored as Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) followed with a line single over the first baseman's head.
Cody Stevenson's leadoff double led to another Gorloks' run in the fifth. Once again, solid execution paid off as Stevenson was sacrificed to third and scored on Tyler Stoulp's fly ball to the warning track in right.
A leadoff walk to Miller in the fifth spelled the end of the evening for Smith. But Webster's left-handed reliever Ryan Martinez entered the game and retired the next three batters. The Cougars went after Martinez in the sixth as Weis and Huber opened the inning with singles. Santarelli was next, and his at-bat would be one of the crucial ones of the night. With the Gorloks expecting a sacrifice, the Cougars tried a hit-and-run but the pitch was fouled off. On a 1-2 count, Santarelli hit a screamer that was targeted for the left-center gap, However, Webster leftfielder Corey Lasky was playing towards centerfield, and he was in position to snare Santarelli's liner. Martinez then retired the next two batters on fly balls, and Concordia's final good scoring chance of the night went by the boards.
Webster put the game on ice with a pair of runs in the eighth and two more in the ninth. Stoulp's single accounted for both ninth-inning runs and gave him three RBIs for the game.
The Cougars will send Bobby Beelen (Wheeling, IL/H.S.) to the mound on Saturday against Augustana. Beelen is 5-1 with a 3.31 ERA in eight starts this season.
