May 6, 2013 - If the Concordia Cougars wanted a little extra surge of adrenaline entering this weekend's Northern Athletics Conference tournament, they couldn't have done better than Monday night's 5-0 blanking of Illinois Wesleyan University. The Cougars' win over the number two team in the NCAA III Central Region lifted them to 32-5 on the season.

Sophomore lefthander C.J. Selner (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran H.S.) was the story for the Cougars as he no-hit the hard-hitting Titans for 5 2/3 innings before Tim Coonan's clean single up the middle. Selner allowed one other hit, a leadoff double to Nate Hahn in the seventh, but Selner left him at second as he got two fly balls and a grounder to second to wrap up a tidy 75-pitch outing.

Ron Romano matched Selner in the early innings, but Concordia finally broke the ice with two outs in the fifth. Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) lined a single to left, only the Cougars' second hit to that point. Dan LoDolce (Northlake, IL/Walther Lutheran) then lofted a fly to right-center that carried over the head of the rightfielder and to the wall. Randerson rambled around third with the first run of the game.

The Cougars added to the lead in the seventh. Derek Binninger (Pleasant Prairie, WI/Tremper) led off with a line shot to right-center for a double. Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) followed with a double to left although Binninger was forced to hold up at third. Robert Weis (Oak Creek, WI/H.S.) lifted a fly to left with plenty of distance to get Binninger home. Randerson then singled to the left side, the shortstop gloving the ball to keep the runner at third. Illinois Wesleyan went to the bullpen, but LoDolce greeted reliever Anthony Kopp with a line single to center to score Huber and make it a 3-0 game.

Louis Foss (Warner Robins, GA/Houston County) relieved Selner on the mound to start the eighth and worked a 1-2-3 inning. The Cougars then left no doubt about the outcome in the ninth as they tacked on two more runs. Weis singled to left, and Randerson dropped a beautiful bunt down the first-base line for a hit. LoDolce sacrificed the runners to second and third. Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) then slashed a single through the drawn-in infield to plate both runners.

Foss worked a quiet ninth, retiring the side in order. The sophomore earned his first save of the season in closing out a most impressive win for the maroon and gold.

The Cougars will open the conference tournament in Mequon, Wisconsin on Thursday morning at 10 a.m. when they battle the sixth-seeded Wisconsin Lutheran College Warriors.