Cougars, Thorsen Shut Down Engineers

Box Score

March 14, 2014 - The 16th-ranked Concordia-Chicago Cougars improved to 7-2 on the season with a 7-0 blanking of the Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology this evening at Art Nehf Field in Terre Haute, Indiana.

Senior Ryan Thorsen (Lake Villa, IL/Grant Community) was in complete control on the mound, going eight innings and fanning nine. The lefty allowed just five singles and one walk in notching his first win of 2014. The Engineers had only one solid scoring chance against Thorsen, and that came in the fifth when the home team loaded the bases. But Thorsen got out of it by getting RHIT's number three batter on a pop-up to first base. Thorsen went on to retire nine of the next 10 batters before giving way to Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) who pitched the ninth inning.

The Cougars scored three times in the second to give Thorsen the only runs he needed. Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) drew a leadoff walk on four straight pitches. Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) then singled to rightfield, advancing Gier 90 feet. Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) was next up with the task of bunting both runners along. Randerson did the job and got an added bonus when the throw from the third baseman was wild, moving Huber to third and Gier across the plate with the first run. Two outs later, Dan Eichholzer's (Elwood, IL/Joliet West) bases-loaded single scored Huber and Randerson to increase the lead.

Rose-Hulman's pitching held the line after that until Concordia finally put the game away with four in the ninth. A walk began this rally also, Doug Matthews (Crest Hill, IL/Lockport Township) reaching with one out. Eichholzer singled, and an error by the pitcher loaded the bases. Carlos Olavarria (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) then delivered a two-run double to center, and Gier capped the scoring with a two-run single.

The Cougars return to Art Nehf Field on Saturday when they play Illinois Wesleyan University at 9 a.m. and Carthage College at 3 p.m., both times Chicago time. Links to live coverage may be found at www.cucougars.com.

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Players Mentioned

#32 Dan Eichholzer: OF; 6' 1"; Senior

#6 Thomas Gier: 1B/DH; 6' 0"; Senior

#30 Kyle Huber: 1B/OF; 6' 1"; Senior

#56 Ryan Thorsen: P; 6' 0"; Senior

#25 Carlos Olavarria: SS; 5' 9"; Junior

#13 Doug Matthews: 3B/OF; 5' 11"; Senior; R-R

Players Mentioned

#32 Dan Eichholzer
: 6' 1"; Senior
: OF

#6 Thomas Gier
: 6' 0"; Senior
: 1B/DH

#30 Kyle Huber
: 6' 1"; Senior
: 1B/OF

#56 Ryan Thorsen
: 6' 0"; Senior
: P

#25 Carlos Olavarria
: 5' 9"; Junior
: SS

#13 Doug Matthews
: 5' 11"; Senior; R-R
: 3B/OF