March 22, 2014 - For the small college baseball enthusiast, it was hard to top the calibre of competition that was on display Saturday afternoon at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Illinois. The 12th-ranked Concordia-Chicago Cougars met two formidable opponents in sixth-ranked Webster University and the College of St. Scholastica, a team that has made the NCAA III regionals each of the last nine seasons. In both games, the pitching took center stage as the Cougars pulled off an impressive pair of victories, 3-2 over Webster and 2-1 over St. Scholastica.
The win over Webster saw CUC gain a small measure of revenge after the Gorloks had ousted the Cougars from the 2013 Central Regional, just one win shy of a Division III World Series appearance. Concordia pulled off this win in dramatic fashion as they scored all three of their runs in the top of the ninth to turn what appeared to be a tough defeat into their 10th win of the season.
Dan Kluss (Niles, IL/Niles West) pitched masterfully for the Cougars although he would take a no-decision from this game. The senior limited the mighty hitting Gorloks to two runs on three hits over seven innings after Webster had put up 23 runs in yesterday's game. Webster took a 1-0 lead in the second as Joe Winckel led off with a soft liner over first base for a double. He would come in to score on a sacrifice fly by Ian Foege. The Gorloks added another run in the fifth on Corey Lasky's two-out double to the leftfield corner. On the other side, Webster southpaw Chris Jansen was stifling the CUC attack. The Cougars stranded four runners over the first three innings. Frustrations mounted when the Cougars wasted a leadoff double by
Dan LoDolce (Northlake, IL/Walther Lutheran) in the fifth followed by a
Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet West) single. A strikeout and double-play ball brought the rally to an abrupt end.
Jansen went to the mound to the ninth looking to complete his sterling effort, but the Cougars had other plans. Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) beat out a leadoff hit to shortstop and took second base as the throw got by the first baseman. Will Randerson (Combined Locks, IL/Kimberly) was hit by a pitch after fouling off a couple of two-strike pitches. With the infield expecting a sacrifice bunt, Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) still managed to get down a perfect bunt and beat it out to load the bases. The Gorloks called upon top reliever Jason Gray to put out the fire, and Gray struck out the first batter he faced. Gray then threw strike one to Eichholzer, but the Cougars' centerfielder drilled the next pitch up the middle for his fourth hit of the game. Bethran and Randerson both scored to draw CUC even with the hosts.
Dylan Dean Smith was summoned from the bullpen, and he hit Zubrzycki to reload the bases. Carlos Olavarria (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) then hit the first pitch he saw deep into the rightfield corner. Charlie Gandolfi ran down the ball for the second out and threw to second base to catch Zubrzycki as he tried to advance. However, Santarelli had crossed the plate with the go-ahead run before the third out was made, and the Cougars headed to the bottom of the ninth with a 3-2 lead. Steve Cox (Villa Park, IL/Willowbrook) made his fifth appearance of the season, and he recorded two quick outs with a liner to shortstop and a grounder to second. Foege kept the Gorloks' hopes alive with a single, but Cox got ahead of Matt Wollnik 0-2 before getting a grounder to first base to close out a thrilling victory. Will Polley (River Forest, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) earned his second win of the season, retiring the final batter of the eighth inning. Cody Caballero (Lemont, IL/H.S.) also chipped in with two key outs in the eighth. In the nightcap, it was lefty Ryan Thorsen (Lake Villa, IL/Grant Community) that got the call against St. Scholastica. He would face righthander Andy Davis who entered the game with a 3-0 record. Both pitchers put up zeroes through the first three innings, but some fine defense kept the Saints from reaching the scoreboard in the second inning. The first two batters reached base on singles. Thorsen came back to strike out the next batter, but Brian Minks singled through the hole between third and short. LoDolce charged the ball and threw a strike to home plate where Randerson applied the tag on a bang-bang play to get the call. Thorsen then struck out the next batter to keep the game scoreless.
The Cougars broke through with a run in the bottom of the fourth. Eichholzer led off with a single for CUC's first hit of the game. Zubrzycki then beat out a bunt, advancing Eichholzer to second. Davis came back to retire the next two batters, but freshman Brent Spohr (Ingleside, IL/Grant Community) came through with a solid double that one-hopped the wall in left-center to score Zubrzycki for the 1-0 lead. St. Scholastica wasted no time drawing even when they came to bat in the fifth. Padraic Getchell led off with a double high off the wall in left-center and wound up on third base when the ball was not picked up cleanly on the carom. The run would score on a ground ball to the middle of the infield.
The sixth inning would prove pivotal in this contest. The Saints put runners on the corners with nobody out, but Thorsen dug deep to keep the score at 1-1. He retired the next three batters on a pop to short, a swinging third strike and a comebacker to the mound.
Concordia then came to bat and pushed across the decisive run. Zubrzycki led off with a line single to right. Davis retired the next two batters, but the inning was kept alive as a wide throw by the shortstop allowed Spohr to reach. Bethran then worked the count full before looping a base hit to rightfield, brining Zubrzycki home for a 2-1 edge.
Thorsen worked a scoreless seventh before giving way to Robert Lock (Chicago, IL/St. Ignatius) in the eighth. The Saints put their leadoff man on base, but Lock retired the next three batters to keep CUC in the lead. Cox returned to the mound in the ninth and would notch his second save of the day (third of the season), but not without adventure. A pinch-hitter worked a leadoff walk and was sacrificed to second. Cox retired Getchell on a line drive to centerfield for out number two. A second pinch-hitter battled Cox to a full count before reaching base on a swinging bunt, putting runners on the corners. However, Cox retired Parker Olson on a grounder to second to put an end to a snappy two-hour ballgame.
"These were two very satisfying wins for us today," said Concordia head coach Adam Smith. "Give credit to the starting pitchers from Webster and St. Scholastica, they are probably two of the best we will see all year. Fortunately, our pitching was equal to the task in working out of some tight situations, and our hitters also came through when we needed it the most. Dan Eichholzer's at-bat in the ninth inning of game one was huge, but our three guys that loaded the bases in front of him were just as crucial to the success of that rally." The Cougars improved to 11-2 with the wins. They will play a noon game on Sunday against Washington University of St. Louis before heading home. The 4:00 game against Illinois Wesleyan University at GCS Ballpark has been cancelled and will likely not be rescheduled.
