May 13, 2015 - As the Concordia-Chicago Cougars open play this afternoon in the NCAA III Midwest Regional, they have a familiarity with the opponent to help them prepare. The Cougars will take on the Bears from Washington University of St. Louis in today's 4:30 game at Copeland Park in LaCrosse, Wisconsin.

The Cougars and Bears played a weekend series in the Gateway City back on March 21-22 with the two sides trading 6-5 victories. The Bears took game one, scoring two unearned runs in the bottom of the seventh after Doug Matthews' (Crest Hill, IL/Lockport Township) single in the top of the inning had given CUC a 5-4 lead. The next day, it was CUC's turn to claim victory as Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) squeezed home Cody Rupp (Bartonville, IL/Limestone) in the top of the 12th for the winning run. Matt McTague (Skokie, IL/Niles North) was the pitching hero of the day, going seven innings in relief and allowing just two runs to earn the victory.

Cocnordia-Chicago enters the regionals riding an 11-game winning streak, and they are 21-2 since April 1. The Cougars (30-13) are led by Matthews' .397 batting average, followed by NACC Position Player of the Year Carlos Olavarria (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) with .380 and a team-leading 48 RBIs. 

The Cougars' pitching has also been on a roll led by senior Kurt Kempema (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) and junior Eric Palmer (Melrose Park, IL/West Leyden), Palmer throwing a two-hit gem last weekend in a NACC tournament win over Benedictine. CUC's pitching staff is sporting a collective earned run average of 1.98 during this 11-game winning streak.

The Bears come in with a record of 33-14, having won five of their last six. They are a senior-driven team led by Chris Lowery (.424, 66 RBIs) who was named the University Athletic Association's Player of the Year. Infielder Zach Kessinger has reached base in 52 consecutive games dating back to last season, and his is the third longest streak of that nature in NCAA III history.The Bears' pitching staff (4.47 ERA in 386 innings) is led by Max Zhang (4-3, 3.06) and Scott Nelson (7-0, 3.65).

Links to live stats and video from the regional can be found on the Live Game Coverage tab on the athletic website at www.cucougars.com.