March 22, 2015 - Just when the Concordia-Chicago baseball team was on the verge of dropping their sixth straight game including a possible 0-4 in St. Louis this weekend, the Cougars pulled off a miraculous escape in the bottom of the eleventh inning against host Washington University of St. Louis and then won the game 6-5 in 12 innings. The victory lifted the Cougars to 7-9 and provided an important momentum boost as the team now prepares to open Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play next weekend at Concordia University Wisconsin next weekend.
Nick Barnhill (Normal. IL/Normal West) was sharp over the first three innings, but the Bears scratched a pair of runs in the fourth. With two on and two out, a checked swing produced an infield nubber that went for a single to load the bases. Goldstick then singled up the middle to give Washington a 2-0 lead. The Cougars answered back in the fifth as a walk and an error put the first two men aboard. Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) then singled between third and short for only the second Cougars' hit as
Carlos Olavarria (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) scored. Later in the inning,
Brendan Klein (St. Charles, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) knocked in the tying run with a sharp single to centerfield. However, the Bears regained the lead in the bottom of the fifth on Kessinger's double to left.
Doug Matthews (Lockport, IL/Lockport Township) brought CUC back in the seventh as he led off with a triple over the head of the centerfielder. He then scored when an attempted pickoff throw from the catcher got past the third baseman and down the line. Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) then reached base on a dropped pop-up and later scored on Joe Silva's (Arlington Heights, IL/Hersey) sacrifice fly. But the lead did not last long as Cizek's two-run double put the hosts back into the lead at 5-4. The Bears looked to close out the game in the ninth with their closer Clohisy, but the Cougars rallied. With one out, Mitch Wilson's (Oswego, IL/H.S.) sinking liner to left got down and past the diving fielder with Wilson speeding to third. Silva then hit a 1-0 pitch to left as Wilson trotted across home plate with the tying run. The Bears would not answer this time although they put two runners on base, but a 6-4-3 double play sent the game into extra innings. Neither team scored in the tenth, but Washington threatened in the eleventh. A double, fielder's choice and intentional walk loaded the bases, But Matt McTague (Skokie, IL/Niles North) did a masterful bit of pitching to keep the Cougars in the game. The Cougars brought in Cody Rupp (Bartonville, IL/Limestone) as a fifth infielder while McTague was preparing to face the Bears' three and four hitters. He was successful in coaxing ground balls to the shortstop and first baseman respectively for force plays at the plate. The next batter hit a slow bouncer to Rupp at third base, and his throw to first was ruled in time by an eyelash. The Washington bench argued but to no avail as the game headed to the twelfth. The Cougars' first batter was out, but Rupp then came up for his first at-bat and hit the first pitch he saw past the pitcher for a base hit. Rupp scampered to third on Colin Bethran's (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) single to right-center. Santarelli was next, and he bunted the first pitch toward the first baseman. The only play was on Santarelli as Rupp crossed the plate. McTague took the mound in the bottom of the frame, and his seventh inning of work was his easiest by far. All three Washington hitters went first-ball hunting, producing two flies to center and a grounder to third as CUC finished off perhaps their hardest-fought victory in recent years.
Earlier in the day, the Cougars dropped their second game in as many days to Illinois Wesleyan University by a final score of 12-8. A five-run first by the Titans put the Cougars in an immediate hole, but CUC got two back in the second, one coming home on Klein's RBI single. Concordia then came within 5-3 in the fifth as Bethran singled home Kevin Coppin (Lisle, IL/H.S.). The Cougars got no closer however, as the Titans put three on the board in the sixth and three more in the seventh. While CUC did put together a four-run rally in the seventh highlighted by Santarelli's two-run double, they would come up short in the end.
