Box Score March 7, 2014 - The Concordia-Chicago Cougars suffered their first loss of the new season this afternoon as they suffered a 26-6 pounding by the University of St. Thomas (MN) on a warm and windy day in Tucson, Arizona.
The #14 ranked Cougars were excited about this first of two meetings this weekend with the #9 Tommies with a pair of aces on the mound in CUC's Dan Kluss (Niles, IL/Niles West) and UST's Steve Maher. However, the weather conditions made it ideal for the hitters but not so ideal for many of the fielders. The Tommies nicked Kluss for an unearned run in the first on a dropped pop-up in the infield. St. Thomas added another run in the second on a two-out double by Kelvin Stroik and a triple by Ben Podobinski. Concordia came back in the third inning to take a 4-2 lead. Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) led off with a sharp single to left for the Cougars' first hit. Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) followed with a perfect bunt down the third-base line for a hit
. Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet West) then followed with a hot shot to shortstop that was misplayed, all runners winding up safe
. Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) rapped the first pitch into leftfield for a two-run game-tying single.
The Cougars' momentum was slowed on a line-drive double play, but Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) kept things going with a walk. With Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) at bat, Gier broke for second. The throw from the catcher went into centerfield, allowing Eichholzer to score. Huber then smacked a base hit into rightfield for the fourth tally of the inning. St. Thomas got one run back in the bottom of the third, but Concordia's excitement reached its height as they came up to bat in the fourth. Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) led off with a first-pitch base hit. Freshman Doug Matthews (Crest Hill, IL/Lockport Township) was next, and he also went first-ball hunting. Matthews tagged one high and deep to left that just carried over the fence. His first collegiate homer, the team's third of the week, gave the Cougars a 6-3 advantage. The momentum quickly turned however, as a leadoff error opened the door for the Tommies to score four runs, three of them unearned. The St. Thomas bats were unstoppable after that as they put 19 runs over the final four innings against a trio of Cougar relievers. By contrast, the Cougars could not solve UST reliever Tommy Danczyk. He came on after Matthews' homer and allowed just five hits with no walks over six innings to earn the win.
"This was a tough day, but we will learn from it," said head coach Adam Smith. "At the same time, we have to put this behind us and get ready to play two tomorrow."
The Cougars will play St. Olaf College on Saturday at 3:00 in the Kino Veterans Memorial Stadium, former spring training home of the Chicago White Sox and the Arizona Diamondbacks. The doubleheader will consist of one seven-inning game and one nine-inning game.
