April 26, 2014 - Today's baseball games in Sheboygan, Wisconsin between the Concordia Cougars and the Lakeland Muskies were as different as night and day, but the result was the same in both cases. The Cougars swept the Muskies by scores of 1-0 and 16-9 to improve to 29-3 on the season, 15-1 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play.

Game one began in chilly conditions with a strong wind blowing in from centerfield. As expected, the pitchers had a great advantage in this setting. In the end, CUC's Kurt Kempema (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) outdueled LC's Jared Rear in a snappy 90-minute game. Kempema improved to 6-0 on the season with a complete-game two-hitter. The southpaw did not walk a batter, faced two batters over the minimum and retired the last 17 hitters he faced.

"Kurt was able to throw three pitches for strikes today and used both sides of the plate," said Mike Stawski who served as head coach today in Adam Smith's  place (personal reasons). "He took advantage of the conditions, pitched a smart game and was in total control."
 
The Cougars managed just five hits off of Rear and did not dent the plate until the top of the ninth. Carlos Olavarria (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) led off the inning with a single between third and short and was sacrificed to second by Doug Matthews (Crest Hill, IL/Lockport Township). Olavarria stole third and scored moments later when Dan Eichholzer (Elwood, IL/Joliet West) executed the safety squeeze.

In the 30 minutes between games, the winds shifted and both teams came out ready to hit. While game one featured a total of seven hits, the Cougars and Muskies combined for six hits in the first inning alone. Concordia managed four of the hits and put up a big five-spot in the inning.

Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) led off with a base hit, and Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) drew a walk. The runners executed a double steal, and Zubrzycki came in to score the first run on Olavarria's ground ball to short. One out later, Kyle Huber (Chicago, IL/Lane Tech) was hit by a pitch. Eichholzer then reached on an infield hit, scoring Randerson for a 2-0 lead. Matthews was hit by a pitch to load the bases. and Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) singled to rightfield for two runs. Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) capped the inning with a run-scoring hit for a 5-0 lead.

Lakeland chipped away with two runs in the second and two in the fourth sandwiched around an RBI single by Matthews in the third. But Concordia opened up some distance beginning in the fifth. Huber worked a leadoff walk, and Eichholzer doubled to leftfield for the run. The Cougars then put up six runs in the sixth for a 13-4 lead. All six runs scored after two were out, starting with Huber's double. Eichholzer followed with a two-run double down the leftfield line. Santarelli singled home a run, and Bethran added the team's second two-run double of the frame.

The home team made one final push with three runs in the sixth and one in the seventh. But the Cougars put the game on cruise control in the ninth with their final three tallies. Zubrzycki walked and then stole second and third bases. Eric Jensen (Niles, IL/Niles West) doubled him home and them scored himself on Olavarria's double. Will Polley (River Forest, IL/Oak Park-River Forest) singled to score Olavarria for a 16-8 lead. The Muskies took back a run in the bottom of the ninth but it was too little, too late as the Cougars put a wrap on two road victories. A combination of Cougar victories and Benedictine University losses totaling two will give CUC a regular season conference championship and the number one seed in the NACC tournament which begins May 10.

Concordia-Chicago will host the Milwaukee SChool of Engineering on Sunday afternoon in a noon doubleheader.