May 7, 2015 - One might be excused for thinking that many of the Concordia University Chicago baseball players are majoring in theatre, thanks to a second consecutive game that featured heavily on dramatics and the late-inning heroics. Down to their final out and trailing by two runs, the Cougars rallied for three runs and edged the Aurora University Spartans 5-4 in the first game of the 2015 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament at Kapco Park in Mequon, WI.

Kurt Kempema (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) was in top form over the first two innings, getting four ground balls among the first six outs. But the Cougar defense imploded in the third inning as the Spartans plated all four of their runs. Following a leadoff single, the Cougars made bad throws on consecutive bunt attempts to load the bases. Daniel Walczak's grounder to third produced the first out but also the first run. Kempema got the next batter to pop up and was in position to escape the inning with minimum damage, but a single by Dillon Popovich and a looping double to right by Adam Lipscomb made the score 4-0. The Cougars averted a further deficit as Mitch Wilson's (Oswego, IL/H.S.) throw to home plate on Jeff Gersch's single caught Lipscomb trying to score and kept the CUC deficit at four runs.

The Cougars were unable to get anything going against Spartans' starter Colin Hart through four innings; the lone hit to that point was Wilson's one-out double in the second. However, the Cougars broke through in the fifth. With one out, Doug Matthews (Crest Hill, IL/Lockport Township) and Thomas Gier (Fox Lake, IL/Grant Community) singled to put runners on the corners. Rich Santarelli (Homer Glen, IL/Chicago Christian) then hit a hot comebacker off of Hart. The pitcher was able to keep the ball from getting too far away and made the play at first, but Matthews was off on contact and crossed the plate with CUC's first run.

A great at-bat by Gier inched the Cougars closer in the seventh. Wilson led off with a single and moved to second on a wild pitch. One out later, Gier fell behind in the count but fouled off six two-strike pitches before lining a run-scoring single over the second baseman's glove. Santarelli followed with the Cougars' third hit of the inning, but Hart regrouped and retired the next two batters to keep Aurora in the lead at 4-2.

Hart stranded a runner in scoring position in the eighth before exiting the game, but Concordia-Chicago rallied the troops for one more go in the ninth. The Aurora reliever struck out the first man he faced, but Gier started the Cougars' charge by cracking his third base hit of the game. A grounder to first moved pinch-runner Kevin Garvey (Brookfield, IL/Riverside-Brookfield) to second, leaving CUC down to its final out. Kevin Coppin (Lisle, IL/H.S.), who had entered the game in the eighth, kept hopes alive as he lined a 1-2 pitch to center. The outfielder came up just short on a diving catch, and Coppin moved into second with a double as Garvey scored.

Joe Silva (Arlington Heights, IL/Hersey) was next, and he was plunked by a 1-0 pitch to put the winning run on base. Jeff Von Moser (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame) took strike one before smashing the next pitch up the middle for the game-tying single, Silva moving to second. That brought Carlos Olavarria (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden) to the plate. Named earlier in the day as the repeat NACC Position Player of the Year, Olavarria rose to the occasion by hitting a 1-0 pitch past the diving third baseman. The leftfielder was unable to come up with the ball quickly enough as Silva raced home to touch off a joyous celebration.

"Overall, we did not play well this morning, but our guys came up with some great at-bats late," said CUC head coach Adam Smith. "Coppin started it; I looked him in the eyes and I knew he was going to have a quality at-bat. Then our seniors Jeff and Carlos came through and led by example to get it done. I can't forget Thomas Gier either, some great patient at-bats that got us going. I would hope that we could win some of these games with less drama, but it's to these guys' credit that they keep playing and trying to find ways to get the wins."
 
The Cougars (27-13) will advance to the second round with a 7:00 game this evening against either Edgewood College or Concordia University Wisconsin.