March 21, 2015 - Back in the Midwest, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars looked to reverse a rough stretch of play from last weekend with the first two of four weekend games today. The venue was Kelly Field on the campus of Washington University in St. Louis where the Cougars were to play the host school and Illinois Wesleyan University.
The weather was perfect for baseball, but the Cougars' fortunes were still cloudy and gray after a pair of losses dropped CUC to 6-8 on the season.
Illinois Wesleyan was first on the docket today, and a three-run second inning by the Titans was the pivotal point in a 6-2 victory. The Cougars batted first, and Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central) got CUC going early as he was hit by a 3-2 pitch. The speedy shortstop promptly stole second, moved up on a base hit by
Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) and scored on a fielder's choice.
Making his third start of the season, Cody Caballero (Lemont, IL/H.S.) battled through the first few innings. The Titans tied the game on a double by Ryan Mollo and then struck for three in the second. Illinois Wesleyan loaded the bases with one out, but Caballero came back to retire the next batter on a weak comebacker to the mound and a force at home plate. He then got ahead of Derek Idstein 2-2 before the IWU second baseman golfed a high curve to left-center. The ball short-hopped the fence as all three runners motored around to score and make the score 4-1, Titans. The Cougars got one back in the third on the long ball. Outfielder Joe Silva (Arlington Heights, IL/Hersey) connected on a 3-1 pitch with one out and drove it over the fence in right-center about 390 feet away. Moments later, Kevin Coppin (Lisle, IL/H.S.) laced a double to left-center, but he was left stranded - one of five left on base by CUC over the first three innings. The score remained 4-2 until the bottom of the fifth when IWU's Tim Coonan was hit by a pitch leading off the inning. Coonan would score with two out on Mollo's double to rightfield.
Illinois Wesleyan's pitching took over from that point. Jonathan Vlk pitched three hitless innings for IWU, and two more relievers closed out the game. Caballero suffered the loss, falling to 1-1 on the season.
Concordia-Chicago came back later in the afternoon to take on Washington with Kurt Kempema (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) getting the start on the mound. Once again, the Cougars scored in their first at-bat as Silva drew a two-out walk. Brent Spohr (Ingleside, IL/Grant Community) then hit a liner to rightfield. The ball eluded the glove of the fielder and was ruled an error as Silva came all the way around to score. The Cougars' lead became 2-0 in the third. Mitch Wilson (Oswego, IL/H.S.) led off with a liner over the first baseman's head. The ball rolled around in the rightfield corner, allowing Wilson to motor into third with a triple. Two batters later, Spohr hit a deep fly to center that scored Wilson easily. Held to just one hit through the first three innings, the Bears combined three hits and a walk in the fourth to plate two runs and tie the game. But the Cougars regained the lead in the fifth as Silva reached on a leadoff walkm his fourth base on balls for the day. A walk to Spohr and a fielder's choice moved Silva to third from where he scored when Doug Matthews (Lockport, IL/Lockport Township) put down a perfect bunt. The first baseman's only play was to tag Matthews, and CUC had a 3-2 lead. The Bears scored once in the fifth and once in the sixth, but the Cougars retaliated in the seventh. With one out, Silva singled and stole second. Spohr then ripped a double down the leftfield line to score Silva and tie the game. The Bears went to the bullpen, but Matthews delivered a two-out single to center that tallied Spohr for a 5-4 lead.
Unfortunately for the Cougars, the hosts had the final answer. Two infield errors, one on a bunt, allowed the Bears to score a pair of unearned runs against C.J. Selner (Milwaukee, WI/Milwaukee Lutheran) who pitched the sixth through eighth innings. Selner set down the Bears in the eighth, giving the Cougars an opportunity in the ninth to extend the game. Brendan Klein (St. Charles, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) led off the ninth with his third hit of the game, but a force out, a caught stealing and a strikeout ended a difficult Saturday for the Cougars. Concordia-Chicago will rematch with both teams on Sunday, playing Illinois Wesleyan at 11 a.m. and Washington at 2 p.m. before heading back home to prepare for the beginning of conference play next weekend.
