Box Score Bats Break Out to Back Caballero's Strong Outing
March 5, 2014 - The Concordia Cougars had the best of everything in today's third game of the eight-game season-opening road trip to Tucson, Arizona. A 19-hit attack and solid defense backed the collegiate debut outing of lefthander Cody Caballero (Lemont, IL/H.S.), and it all added up to an 11-2 victory over Indiana Wesleyan University at the Kino Sports Complex. Caballero struck out the first batter he faced and went on to retire the first eight batters. The Cougars gave him a lead in the bottom of the second. With one on and one out, base hits by Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) and Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) loaded the bases. Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) then hit a sacrifice fly to rightfield as Doug Matthews (Crest Hill, IL/Lockport Township) trotted home with the first run. The Cougars opened up the lead the following inning with a four spot. Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) started the uprising with a perfect bunt down the third base line for a base hit. Carlos Olavarria (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) singled, and Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) walked to load the bases. One out later, Matthews hit a sharp line drive to left. The outfielder appeared to be battling the sun, and the ball got down for a two-run single. Randerson was hit by a pitch to reload the bases. Santarelli then hit a grounder to shortstop. The force was made at second, but Santarelli beat the throw to first. The throw sailed high past the first baseman, allowing both Gier and Matthews to score for a 5-0 lead. Two more runs in the fourth put CUC's lead at seven. With one out, Zubrzycki hit a soft liner over third and hustled it into a double. Olavarria then blistered one into the right-center gap as Zubrzyckl scored. Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) drove home Olavarria when he accounted for the third double of the inning with a shot over the rightfielder's head. Caballero held the Wildcats to just three hits - two of them in the infield - over the first six innings before IWU broke through in the seventh. Three hits loaded the bases with just one out. Bethran's diving catch of a sinking liner in short right went for the second out and kept the Wildcats off the board, but only for a moment. Pinch-hitter Kaleb DeFreese looped Caballero's 0-1 offering into short centerfield to drive home a pair of runs. However, Caballero caught DeFreese breaking off of first moments later, and the runner was cut down at second base to prevent any further damage.
The Cougars would have the last words as they put up three runs in the seventh and one in the eighth. The first run of the seventh scored on a double play. Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet West) then ripped a double to leftfield that scored Matthews, and Zubrzycki drove home Eichholzer with his fourth hit of the day. Pinch-hitter Andrew Kroncke (St. Charles, IL/St. Charles North) drove in the eight inning run with a single to right that plated Dan LoDolce (Northlake, IL/Walther Lutheran) who had reached base on a double. Jake Mijares (Cicero, IL/Nazareth Academy) hurled the final two innings to close out the game. The senior struck out two and did not allow a ball out of the infield. Concordia-Chicago (3-0) will face St. Mary's University of Minnesota on Thursday morning. Senior Ryan Thorsen (Lake Villa, IL/Grant Community) is the expected starter on the mound.
