May 15, 2015 - Nerves of steel might well be a requirement for newcomers to the Concordia-Chicago baseball program, players and fans alike. While the "Cardiac Cougars" have battled to a couple of heart-stopping finishes in recent weeks, today's finish against Ripon College in NCAA III Midwest Regional play may have been the most arresting of them all. In the end, the Cougars survived to play another day as they edged the Red Hawks by a final score of 6-5.

"What a game, two good teams battling it out," said CUC head coach Adam Smith. "Ripon, what a quality team they are, they battled their tails off. It was a stressful ninth, but we got the out when we needed it. We lived to fight another day, and that's all that matters now."

Ripon fired the first shot in this battle as they scored twice in the bottom of the first. The first two batters singled, but CUC starter Mike Formella (Homer Glen, IL/Lockport Township) fanned Michael Polcyn, Ripon's D3baseball.com All-American shortstop, for the first our. However, a third single and a walk forced in the first run of the game. Formella came back to strike out Mitchell Busch but then hit Nick Uhen with a pitch to make it a 2-0 game.

Senior Steve Zubrzycki (McHenry, IL/Marian Central Catholic) started the Cougars' comeback in the third. Inserted into the nine spot in the order as part of a lineup shuffle today, Zubrzycki singled up the middle with one out for the Cougars' first hit. Jeff Von Moser (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame) followed with a single to center, and Mitch Wilson (Oswego, IL/H.S.) hit the first pitch from Matt Hecht down the first base line. Zubrzycki scored on the double, and Von Moser followed across the plate as the throw to second base got away from the infielders. Wilson took third on the error and scored moments later on Carlos Olavarria's (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) grounder to short for a 3-2 lead.

Formella settled down over the next few innings, retiring seven of the next eight batters before Polcyn reached on a double with one out in the fifth. A walk put two runners aboard and brought up first baseman Nate Siudak. The first pitch to Siudak was lifted high into right-center and carried away from the outfielders. By the time the ball was retrieved on the warning track, Siudak had a two-run double and the Red Hawks a 4-3 lead. Later in the inning, pinch-hitter Randy Finger hit a soft single to right which scored Siudak for a two-run lead.

The Cougars responded with their own three-spot in the seventh after reliever Matt McTague (Skokie, IL/Niles North) had silenced the Ripon bats over the previous 1 1/3 innings. Will Randerson (Combined Locks, WI/Kimberly) led off with a fly ball over the rightfielder's head for a double. One out later, Zubrzycki drew a walk, reaching base for the third time in the game. That brought Von Moser to the plate, and the senior hit one to rightfield for a double that scored Randerson; a quick retrieval forced Zubrzycki to be given the stop sign at third. Ripon went to the bullpen for Drew Slade, and the southpaw retired Wilson for out number two. Olavarria then walked on a full-count pitch, bringing Spohr up to bat. Spohr went to a 2-2 count, fouling off a couple of two-strike pitches, before hitting a single over the second baseman's head into rightfield. Zubrzycki and Von Moser scored to vault Concordia-Chicago back into the lead at 6-5.

Both McTague and Slade put zeroes on the board over the next couple of inning, setting the stage for the dramatic finish in the bottom of the ninth. McTague retired Nick Schmitt on a fly to right that was caught in foul territory by Brendan Klein (St. Charles, MO/Lutheran St. Charles) for the first out. The sophomore hurler then got ahead of Siudak 2-2 but a pitch got away and hit him to put the tying run on base. McTague came back to retire Busch on a fly to Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) for the second out. Pinch-hitter Josh Oswald kept Ripon's hopes alive, taking a couple of borderline pitches before drawing a walk. Robbie Schuettpelz then added to the drama by taking a walk to load the bases. With both dugouts and both teams' fan bases at a fever pitch, McTague fell behind Jake Reinke 3-1 before slipping a strike on the outside corner. All runners were off on the full count pitch, and Reinke hit a line drive that was directly at Von Moser. The shortstop calmly gloved the ball, and the Cougars celebrated arguably one of the most dramatic finishes in the team's history.

McTague earned the win with 4 1/3 innings of scoreless relief, drawing much praise from Smith. "What can you say about Matt? (Pitching coach) Mike Stawski and I feel the same way, we're both very comfortable with Matt in that situation and we'll sleep well at night making that decision, no matter what the outcome. Matt's one of the hardest workers I've ever coached, and I am very proud of him for his effort today."

The Cougars (32-14) will now prepare for the number one seed and defending national champion University of Wisconsin/Whitewater, 3-0 winners over Washington (MO) University. The Cougars-Warhawks game is tentatively scheduled for noon on Saturday.

Click here to see more photos from this game.