March 7, 2015 - A couple days' worth of frustration accompanied the Concordia-Chicago Cougars into this afternoon's game against Suffolk University from Boston. Many Cougar fans were looking for the hitting to bust out in a big way, and it came today against a Rams' team that went 26-14-1 in 2014. The Cougars pounded out 21 hits capped off by a big seven-run eighth inning and routed Suffolk by a final score of 16-1 in Winter Haven, Florida.

"We really struggled offensively the last couple of games, and the guys heard about it," said CUC head coach Adam Smith. "I thought we came out today with a good approach and really put it on Suffolk who I thought is really one of the best teams we would face down here."

Concordia was denied in the first inning after a pair of two-out hits, but they got on the board in the second. Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) singled and moved up to third as an attempted pickoff throw eluded the first baseman. Santarelli then scored on a grounder to second by Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly), the first of six RBIs for the senior catcher today.

The third inning brought with it the first of consecutive four-run outbursts for CUC. After the first two batters were retired, Santarelli drew a walk and Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) singled. That brought Randerson to the plate, and he smoked an 0-1 pitch down the line past the diving first baseman. The ball rolled all the way to the rightfield corner and, by the time it was retrieved, Santarelli and Bethran scored while Randerson motored into third. Freshman Cody Rupp (Bartonville, IL/Limestone) followed with a rope to leftfield which the fielder made a diving attempt for but could not prevent the run-scoring double. Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) followed with a shot to left-center that made the score CUC 5, Suffolk 0 after three.

Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) started up the offense again in the fourth with a one-out single. A walk to Santarelli and single by Bethran followed, loading the bases for Randerson. He wasted no time ripping the first pitch down the line in identical fashion to his previous at-bat. This time, the triple accounted for three RBIs giving Randerson a half-dozen for the game. Rupp then collected his second RBI with a single to right-center to make it a 9-0 lead.

With the huge lead, sophomore Cody Caballero (Lemont, IL/H.S.) had little trouble in earning his first win, following up a splendid relief effort in last Sunday's game. Caballero was touched for an unearned run in the fifth, but the southpaw was in complete control in his seven-inning stint. He allowed just four hits and two walks while fanning two. Freshman Matt Swanson )DesPlaines, IL/Maine West) finished up with a solid two innings allowing no hits and one walk while also striking out a batter.

The Cougars put a big bow on this win with an explosve eighth inning. CUC rapped out six hits in the frame, highlighted by Gier's two-run single. Santarelli had a hit in the inning, giving him a perfect 3-3 game with three walks, and Rupp collected his fourth hit of the day to go with two runs scored and two RBIs. Olavarria added an RBI single, giving the leftfielder a three-hit game.

Concordia improved to 4-3 with the win and will wrap up the Florida trip on Sunday morning at 9:30 when they play Fitchburg State University.