March 28, 2017 - The Concordia-Chicago baseball team lifted the curtain on its home season this afternoon with a doubleheader against the University of Dubuque. The non-conference games gave CUC a final tune-up before opening Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play this coming weekend. The Cougars looked to be on their way to gaining some momentum for those games after a 2-1 victory in game one, but game two continued the Cougars' uneven play of recent days as the visiting Spartans overcame a 4-0 deficit and defeated the Cougars by a 9-7 score.

In game one, a seven-inning contest, the story for CUC was starting pitcher Cody Caballero. On the comeback trail after missing all of last season, the lefty had his strongest outing of 2017 in allowing just one run over six innings. Caballero was staked to a quick 1-0 lead when Bryan VanDuser led off the bottom of the first with an infield hit. VanDuser promptly maneuvered into scoring position with a steal of second and then scored when Joe Silva singled to center. Silva advanced to second as VanDuser beat the throw to the plate. However, UD starter Jacob Padilla struck out the next three batters, leaving CUC with just the one-run lead.

The pitchers took over through the next three innings with Caballero retiring nine of the next 10 batters he saw. Padilla was up to the challenge, facing the minimum nine batters as his only baserunner was erased in a caught-stealing. Dubuque then threatened with two out in the fifth, getting a double and a single for their first hits since the top of the first. But Caballero escaped the jam as he got Gaetano Florio to fly to left for the third out.

The Cougars added to their lead in the bottom of the inning. Kevin Garcia reached on a single and was at third with two out when VanDuser shot a single past the third baseman and down the line for a run-scoring double. That run eventually stood as the game-winner when the Spartans scored in the sixth on three consecutive two-out singles. Again, Caballero got the key out when he needed it, striking out Kelvin Medrano swinging. That ended Caballero's day, as he finished with just the one run allowed on six hits, striking out four and walking nobody. Mike Formella wrapped up the win in the seventh, allowing a one-out single but retiring the next two batters on infield pop-ups to put an end to a Cougar victory.

Prospects for a CUC sweep appeared good when the Cougars came out swinging to begin game two. As in game one, VanDuser and Silva started the rally with singles. Brent Spohr then laced a liner to the gap in left-center and wound up with a double as both runners scored. Spohr advanced to third on Mitch Wilson's grounder and scored as Brady Roberts lifted a fly to right. The throw home made for a close play, but Spohr was in safely as CUC grabbed a 3-0 lead.

Joey Anderson led off the second with a high chopper up the middle that he beat out for a single. Anderson then stole second and reached third on a balk, and he scored on Kevin Garvey's fly to right.

The Cougars looked to be sailing with their 4-0 lead as CUC starter Petar Arbov allowed just one harmless single through the first 3 2/3 innings. But a two-out hit batsman started the unraveling in the top of the fourth. Two singles and a double followed, letting the Spartans plate their first two runs. A walk to the number nine hitter followed, and Noah Dressler entered the game as the new pitcher. The next batter walked, forcing in a run and making it a 4-3 game. The tying run came home on a wild pitch, and the go-ahead run followed on an infield error. A double steal completed the turn of events as the Spartans suddenly owned a 6-4 lead.

Things got uglier for the Cougars in the sixth. Two more CUC errors, along with two hits and a walk, factored into three more runs, and the home team was now staring up at a 9-4 deficit.

Concordia-Chicago inched closer in the seventh. Brendal Klein led off with a single and, one out later, Silva doubled to right. Spohr's infield single scored Klein, but the Spartans' pitcher retired the next two batters  to keep the score at 9-5. In the eighth, VanDuser's clutch two-out double scored Kevin Coppin and Kevin Garvey to bring the tying run to the plate. Silva battled Derek Erwin to a full count before Erwin won the battle with a close pitch on the corner called for a strike. Spartans' closer Nathan Schneiderman then pitched a 1-2-3 ninth as the visitors gained a split for the day.

The Cougars (8-9) will open NACC play on Saturday with two games at Marian University in Fond du Lac, WI before returning home on Sunday to host the Milwaukee School of Engineering.