March 10, 2017 - The Concordia-Chicago Cougars looked to keep their six-game winning streak (four of them on this week's trip to the Sunshine State) alive this afternoon when they played unfamiliar foe Mitchell College of Connecticut. Like the Cougars, the Mariners were repeating conference champions and regional participants in 2016. On this day, the Mariners were the better of the two teams as they took the lead in the first inning and never looked back en route to a 9-5 win over the Cougars.

Among other things, fortune was not the friend of the Cougars today, Bryan VanDuser led off with a base hit and was on first with two out when Brent Spohr lined a shot toward the right-center gap. However, the right fielder robbed the Cougars of the early lead as he raced a long way to make the diving grab and bring the Mariners up to bat.

Southpaw Ryan Tishka went to the mound for his first start of 2017. After retiring the leadoff batter, the next two batters reached base on a walk and bunt single. That brought the cleanup man to bat, and he hit the first pitch back to the mound for what looked like a tailor-made double play. However, the throw to second was behind the shortstop and rolled into the outfield, bringing home the first run of the game. Tishka escaped further trouble by getting a 6-4-3 double play from the next batter.

Uncharacteristically, the Cougars made some defensive lapses today, the first one rising up and biting them in the third. Mitchell had a runner on second with one out when a bouncer to third base was misplayed. Both runners then moved up on a wild pitch, and the next batter lifted a sacrifice fly to left for an unearned run and a 2-0 lead.

The Cougars finally dented Mariners' starter Bryton Ferris in the fourth. Brady Roberts drew the first walk off the lefty curveballer. One out later, Spohr stepped up and hit a 2-2 pitch in the same direction as his first at-bat. This time, the ball carried further and split the outfielders, rolling to the wall as Roberts raced home to cut the gap to 2-1.

Ferris continued to have the upper hand over the next few innings, although his defense helped him out in the fifth when, with two aboard and one out, VanDuser hit a rope that was right at the shortstop. He threw to second to catch the runner off base, and Mitchell remained in the lead.

The Cougars were still very much in the game until things began to unravel in the bottom of the sixth. Mitchell scored five runs against the CUC bullpen, with two hit batsmen and a walk loading the bases to start. A base hit scored one run, but CUC then turned a 6-4-3 double play, scoring a run but also putting the Cougars within one more out of minimizing the damage.  Unfortunately for CUC, a run-scoring single by Kyle Hartenstein and a two-run double by Tyler Pina extended the inning, and CUC faced a 7-1 deficit as the teams headed to the seventh.

To their credit, the Cougars never feel like they're out of a game, and they began to make some noise in the seventh. Like the Mariners a few moments earlier, the Cougars began the inning by loading the bases. A single by Mitch Wilson, pinch-double by Scott Cappis (in his first collegiate at-bat) and a walk to Spohr finally provided the knockout to Ferris. The new reliever faced Grant Davis and got ahead 0-2 before hitting Davis in the side to force in a run, still with nobody out. Brendan Klein was next, and he hit a chopper up the middle that looked like it would sneak through the infield. However, the ball took a perfect bounce to the second baseman who started a 4-6-3 double play while the run scored. The reliever then retired VanDuser to end the inning, limiting the damage to two runs and keeping the Mariners' lead at 7-3.

Another error hurt the Cougars in the seventh, as Mitchell would score an unearned run on a sacrifice fly. A couple of hits led to a final MC run in the eighth, but the Cougars mustered one more charge in the ninth rather than go down quietly. Hits by Wilson and Doug Matthews put runners on the corners with one out. Davis then hit a roller to the pitcher, who opted to throw to second rather than take the easy out at first. The throw was wide of the bag, and all runners were safe as Wilson crossed the plate. Klein then went the other way on a two-strike count, hitting a soft fly over the first baseman's head. The Cougars were now within 9-5 and two men on base, and the Mariners went to the bullpen for an unexpected save opportunity. Unfortunately for the Cougars, Eddie Santiago did his job as he got a pop to short and a called third strike to end the game.

The Cougars (6-3) will look to start a new winning streak on Saturday but will face another formidable challenge in the #7 University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse Eagles. First pitch from Winter Haven, FL is at 3 p.m. (EST).