Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 April 17, 2017 - As four-time defending conference champions, the Concordia-Chicago baseball team is used to having every one of their NACC opponents coming at them with their best, looking to take down the Cougars. But some games still carry some jolting reminders, as was the case with CUC's games this afternoon against the visiting Wisconsin Lutheran Warriors. The Warriors, who came in at 2-6 in conference, twice had the lead on the Cougars in the late innings, but the Cougars rallied to win both times by scores of 6-2 and 8-5 to maintain their hold on first place in the conference at 11-1 (19-10 overall).

Game one began as a pitchers' duel between WLC's Curtis Engelbrecht and CUC's Adam Schmitt. The only good scoring chance over the first three innings came in the bottom of the first. The Cougars had runners on the corners with two out, but the Warriors sniffed out a double steal attempt, and Joe Silva was gunned down trying to steal home. 

Wisconsin Lutheran drew first blood in the fourth, with a leadoff walk starting the trouble. Two singles loaded the bases with one out, but Schmitt fanned Jake Wiedower for out number two. He then got ahead 0-2 on Kasey Zdroik, but the left-handed hitter smartly slapped the next pitch between third and short with two runners coming around to score.

The Cougars looked to answer immediately as Mitch Wilson led off with a bunt and reached second when it was thrown away. A fly ball moved Wilson to third, and he scored when Kevin Coppin hit a screamer off the chest of Engelbrecht for an infield hit. An infield error and a walk then loaded the bases, but Coppin was gunned down at the plate when he tried to score on Brendan Klein's fly to center, and the Cougars still trailed at 2-1.

Engelbrecht continued to frustrate the Cougars through the fifth and sixth. In the seventh, he recorded the first out before he hit Bryan VanDuser with a pitch for the second time in the game. Engelbrecht then retired Joe Silva on a 3-1 putout, VanDuser advancing to second. The WLC coach then went to the bullpen for Noah Schriefer, who came into the game leading the NACC with five saves. The Cougars made it clear they were glad to see Engelbrecht gone, as Brent Spohr ripped a single back up the middle, Van Duser speeding around third with the tying run. Wilson then singled down the rightfield line, sending pinch-runner Aaron Wicker to third. A walk loaded the bases for Coppin, who smashed a single back up the middle to score Wicker and Wilson for a 4-2 lead.

Mike Formella, who had relieved Schmitt in the seventh, set down the Warriors in the eighth before CUC scored a couple of insurance runs. Kevin Garvey led off with a single and was at third with two out when Silva walked. Jacob Frank, who had come in the game for defensive purposes, then doubled deep to right-center to score both runners for a 6-2 lead. That was more than Formella needed to finish the game and post his fifth win in six decisions. Formella retired all nine hitters he faced, getting two on strikeouts and four on ground balls including the final out of the game.

Cody Caballero took the mound for game two, looking to win his fourth straight game. Caballero shut down the Warriors through the first three innings, and his teammates gifted him with a 2-0 lead. In the second, Wilson led off with a chopper up the middle that somehow squirted through the infield. Hustling all the way, Wilson wound up with a double, and he later scored on Matthews' sacrifice fly. Wilson then drove in the second run in his next at-bat when he singled home Klein, who had reached on an error by the Warriors' infield.
 
Wisconsin Lutheran reached Caballero for a run in the fourth on Wiedower's two-out RBI single, but CUC struck in the fifth with some help from the Warriors. Spohr led off with a double, and Wilson reached when his fly to left was dropped. Matthews then bunted for a base hit, and both runners came around to score when the throw went sailing past first base and into rightfield.

The Cougars had the 4-1 lead but then began to play giveaway. The Warriors tagged Caballero for an unearned run in the sixth and another off of reliever Alex Meyers in the seventh. The Warriors then stunned the Cougars by taking a 5-4 lead in the eighth. The inning began with errors on consecutive plays. Wiedower singled in the tying run and, with two out, pinch-hitter Joe Hanson singled home the go-ahead run.

Despite the situation, the Cougars did not panic. Klein led off with an infield single, and VanDuser followed with a double over the head of the leftfielder, Klein scoring to tie the game. Silva sacrificed VanDuser to third, and Spohr ripped a double to left for the go-ahead run. The Warriors went to the bullpen for Schriefer again, but Wilson foiled that strategy by golfing a pitch over the fence in right for a two-run homer, the only homer of the doubleheader, and the sudden four-spot had CUC holding an 8-5 lead. That was all that was needed, as Meyers quickly retired WLC 1-2-3 in the ninth to close out a hard-earned sweep.

The Cougars return to action Saturday when they play two at Rockford University.