#1 Cougars v. #3 UW-Oshkosh, Sunday at 12:00 (and 3:30, if necessary)
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/

May 19, 2018 - So it has come down to this. The Concordia-Chicago Cougars (36-13) have made it to the championship round of the NCAA III Midwest Regional. They will face the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh (34-8), but the Titans go in having the upper hand. Since UWO is undefeated to this point in the regional, they need only win one game, whereas CUC must win back-to-back games to claim the regional title and book passage to next week's Division III World Series in Appleton.

So how are the Cougars able to do this? Head coach Mike Stawski says that "I like the way that we played on Saturday (against Dubuque), loose and having fun." Winning pitcher Adam Schmitt had another idea: "We're usually pretty good when we have to play when we're behind. It makes us a little more dangerous."

The Cougars are going to be the underdog, strange as that is to say. The Titans come in, having won 11 out of their last 12 games. Their offense is solid from one through nine, and much like the Cougars, they are relentless, having scored twice in the seventh and twice in the ninth to pull out Saturday's game. They are also in a little better shape with the pitching game, having played one less game in the regional. While UWO has used their top three starters, they still have a few possibilities for Sunday, which may include John Maday (4-1, 3.26) or Lucas Gregory (5-4, 4.08). Interestingly, the Titans do not have a defined closer - a fact that may prove advantageous to CUC in a late-inning situation.

Looking at the Cougars' pitching stats, Noah Dressler (4-0, 3.07) and James Grassl (0-0, 1.12) come to mind as possible starters, although Stawski will almost surely have everyone "on call." As for the lineup, Jose Mercado has emerged as one of the top stories in this regional. Through four games, CUC's lead-off man is hitting a robust .667 (12-18), and he is now starting to knock in runs as well as score them. Brady Roberts had a good Saturday, with two hits and a two-tun single in game one and a solo homer in game two. Jacob Frank also filled in admirably at first base, going a combined 3-8 with two runs scored and two RBIs. And don't forget Joe Silva and Mitch Wilson, both of whom came into the Dubuque game nursing mini-slumps. Silva collected two hits in the game while Wilson had a clutch two-run single that gave the Cougars a 4-0 lead at the time.

We don't know how Sunday's games will turn out. But we do know that CUC will not go down without a fight, and they could very easily put the pressure on the Titans. We hope you can follow the links to the broadcast throughout the day, and cheer for your Cougars as they look to extend this 2018 season to Appleton! GO COUGARS!!