CUC Baseball v. Bethel (MN) University, Day Two of Midwest Regional - Friday at 3:00

Live stats - http://www.sidearmstats.com/css/baseball/
Live video - https://csssaints.com/watch/?Live=182&type=Live
Regional Page - https://csssaints.com/sports/2018/5/6/umacbase2015.aspx

CUC Baseball - https://www.cucougars.com/index.aspx?path=baseball
CUC Twitter - https://twitter.com/CUChicagoSports
CUC Facebook - https://www.facebook.com/CUCAthletics/
CUC Instagram - https://www.instagram.com/cucougars/

Well, what did you think of Day One of the Midwest Regional, where all three games were won in walk-off fashion? Of course, one of those was our Cougars winning 13-12 over Bethany Lutheran College. We hope you have read the game recap and watched the clip from ESPN's Sports Center! But now, it's time to put that game behind us and focus on the next step - Friday afternoon's game against Bethel University of Minnesota, the No. 4 eed in the regional

The Bethel Royals had a short night after playing the last game yesterday. To top it off, the Royals went 12 innings with UW-Oshkosh before the Titans walked it off by a 4-3 score. Bethel fell behind 3-1 after one inning but came back with single runs in the eighth and ninth innings. The Royals then denied the Titans after a lead-off triple in the bottom of the ninth, but Bethel was unable to capitalize on that, leading to UWO advancing and Bethel now facing an elimination game today.

Bethel, 32-10 and winners of the Minnesota Intercollegiate Athletics Conference, entered the regional with a pitching staff that featured a collective 1.80 ERA. Their pitcher today figures to be one of two right-handers - either Carson Selin (5-0, 1.22, 54 strikeouts in 44 innings) or Noah Luedtke (5-0, 2.11, 43 strikeouts in 47 innings). Their closer is Jake Marsh (3-1, 9 saves, 0.63), and he is the pitcher who got the Royals out of the ninth inning without the Titans scoring their lead-off triple. 

The Royals hit .318 as a team and are averaging six runs a game. Their top hitter is lead-off man Sam Horner (.369, 39 runs scored), and their power comes from catcher Austin Ledin (.336, 9 HRs, 36 RBIs).

The Cougars (34-12) figure to make no major changes to today's lineup, with Keaton Conner (4-2, 3.88) the likely starter on the mound. Look for the Cougars to remain relentless, especially with continued production at the top of the order. Lead-off man Jose Mercado was on base five times yesterday, and Joe Silva four times, including the ninth inning when he scored the winning run.

Remember to check the links above and follow the Cougars today and through the rest of the weekend. And check back n www.cucougars com after the game for the recap and video of the post-game press conference.

GO COUGARS!!!