Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 April 2, 2017 - The first 17 games of the 2017 baseball season have seen the Concordia-Chicago Cougars coping with many questions while trying to get into a groove with the approach of Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference play. If this weekend was any indication, the Cougars have found many of the answers. Following a 10-1, 6-4 sweep of Marian University on Saturday, CUC continued to lay on the lumber today with a sweep of the Milwaukee School of Engineering by scores of 8-2 and 14-9. With the wins, the Cougars improved to 12-9 overall and a 4-0 beginning to the NACC season.

Game one began as a pitchers' duel between MSOE's Brandon Rankila and CUC's Alex Meyers. The hurlers matched zeroes through the first three innings, but the Raiders broke the ice in the fourth on Garrett Willems' two-out RBI single. The Cougars did not trail for long, however. Mitch Wilson led off the Cougars' fourth by drawing a walk. Doug Matthews was next, and he tagged the first pitch on a line to left  The outfielder kept going back until he ran out of room as Matthews' ball cleared the wall for a two-run homer. Kevin Coppin was then hit by Rankila's next pitch, and Coppin made that hurt by stealing second and taking third on a wild pitch. Kevin Garcia lifted a fly ball to left deep enough to score Garcia for a 3-1 lead. 

Another hit-by-pitch the following inning allowed CUC to extend its lead. This time, it was Bryan VanDuser that reached base on the errant pitch. He came around to score as Joe Silva cracked a double to center field, and the Cougars led 4-1.  

The Raiders got a run back in the sixth as Ryan Newman led off the inning with a line-drive homer to left. MSOE threatened to get more in the inning, but Mike Formella fanned Andres Oselio to leave two men on base. Formella pitched five innings in relief and picked up the win, allowing just the one run on four hits while fanning five.

Concordia-Chicago put game one away in the eighth with four runs. A leadoff walk to Brent Spohr turned into a run when pinch-runner Connor Brandon scored on a wild pitch. Later in the inning, with the bases loaded and two out. Brendan Klein lined a single to right. Two runs scored easily and, with the runners off on the 3-2 pitch, Kevin Garvey scored all the way from first. Aaron Wicker then closed out the game by pitching a scoreless ninth to wrap up an 8-2 victory.

Cody Caballero took the mound for CUC in game two as the home team looked to complete the sweep. The lefty threw an easy 1-2-3 innings, and his teammates proceeded to gift him with a quick lead. VanDuser and Silva drew walks, and Spohr hit a rope to the left-center gap for the first run. Wilson then flew out to center with Silva tagging and scoring. Matthews then made it a 4-0 game with his second homer of the afternoon, a shot over the highest part of the wall in left-center. The Cougars added three more runs in the second on an RBI single by Silva and a two-run single to Spohr.

The Raiders pulled back a run (unearned) in the third off Caballero, but the CUC offense kept on chugging. VanDuser's single knocked in Garvey and Klein  The speed of VanDuser then forced the MSOE pitcher into an errant pickoff throw, VanDuser racing all the way to third. He scored moments later when Spohr laced a double down the left field line for his fourth RBI of the game and a 10-1 lead. 

The Cougars scored three more in the sixth, two on Garvey's double, and it appeared that CUC would end game two in seven innings on the slaughter rule. But the Raiders scored seven times in the seventh, all coming with two out and five of the runs unearned. The Cougars regrouped and pushed across an unearned run in the bottom of the eighth. Meanwhile, Petar Arbov pitched the final two innings, allowing a harmless run in the eighth and then striking out the side in the ninth to end the game as daylight was beginning to fade.

Caballero earned his second win this week, allowing just the one unearned run on four hits in five innings while striking out three.

Concordia-Chicago will return to action on Thursday when they host North Central College in a single nine-inning game.