March 6, 2014 - As the weather has heated up over the last 48 hours in Tucson, Arizona, so have the bats of the Concordia-Chicago Cougars. Today's 18-hit attack featured a 5-5 day by outfielder Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) as the Cougars defeated St. Mary's University of Minnesota by a 13-4 score on an 80-degree day at the Kino Sports Complex. The Cougars got to work right away against Cardinals' starter Jacob Dawson. Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) reached on a high hopper with one out. Carlos Olavarria (Rosemont, IL/West Leyden) roped a base hit to right, and Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) walked to load the bases. Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) then lined the first pitch he saw past the shortstop into leftfield as Zubrzycki and Olavarria scored to give CUC the early 2-0 lead. The lead became 3-0 in the second as Bethran began his assault on the St. Mary's pitching staff. He singled up the middle and landed on third base following a passed ball and a wild pitch. With one out, Zubrzycki hit a ball that snuck by the second baseman, allowing Bethran to come home.
Ryan Thorsen (Lake Villa, IL/Grant Community) made his first start of 2014 on the mound today. Thorsen had an easy 1-2-3 first but ran into trouble in the second. A walk and a hit batsman put two aboard with one out for Zach Wolfe, and the Cardinals' third baseman powered one over the 403 sign in centerfield for a three-run game-tying homer.
Concordia regained the lead in the fourth and, once again, Bethran was the instigator. He beat out an infield hit to shortstop. Bethran's speed drew lots of attention from the SMU pitcher, and one of his pickoff throws got past the first baseman. By the time the ball was retrieved, Bethran was standing at third. He came in moments later as Zubrzycki's chopper gave the shortstop only one option at first base. The Cougars added another run as Olavarria reached on a bunt single, stole second and came home as the first baseman misplayed Gier's grounder.
St. Mary's hitters continued to battle Thorsen, and they put two runners on base in both the third and fourth innings. Thorsen fanned Willie Doll to end the fourth. Thorsen would leave the game at that point as the Cardinals had forced a high pitch count from the senior lefthander. Thorsen finished with eight strikeouts in his four innings of work.
The Cougars began to bust open the game in the fifth. With one out, Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) and Bethran singled. Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet West) then hit one to deep right-center. The ball continued to carry as the centerfielder saw the ball barely elude his reach. Santarelli came in from second base with Bethran right on his heels for a 7-3 lead. The Cougars were not done, however. Zubrzycki shot one through the left side to plate Eichholzer, and Olavarria followed with a shot to the right-center gap to drive home the fourth run of the inning for a 9-3 lead. The score became 10-3 in the sixth. Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) was hit by a pitch and came around on singles by Santarelli and Bethran, the latter Bethran's fourth hit of the day.
A walk to Randerson and base hit by Santarelli in the eighth brought Bethran to the plate one last time. The last hit would be the capper to a great day as Bethran charged a 1-0 pitch to deep leftfield. The fielder could only watch as it sailed over the fence for a three-run homer, Bethran's first in his college career. The blast gave the Cougars' rightfielder four runs scored and four RBIs for the game.
"We've had Colin in the nine hole to start, and I don't think there's a better number nine hitter in the country right now," said CUC head coach Adam Smith who added that, based on the sophomore's success thus far, "We may be moving him out of the nine hole soon."
While the offense was doing its damage, the Cougars got some fine pitching from a trio of relievers - Robert Lock (Chicago, IL/St. Ignatius), Will Polley (River Forest, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) and Matt McTague (Skokie, IL/Niles North). The Cardinals would manage just a harmless ninth-inning run as the bullpen closed out win number four for the week. Lock got credit for the win, pitching a scoreless two innings. The 14th-ranked (D3baseball.com) Cougars will now get ready for the ninth-ranked University of St. Thomas on Friday afternoon. Viewers of Live Stats on www.cucougars.com should note that game time has been moved back to 2 p.m. (Chicago time). 