#2 Cougars v. #7 Swarthmore, Friday at 4:30 (seedings are overall in World Series)
Live stats - https://www.ncaa.com/game/baseball/d3/2018/05/25/swarthmore-concordia-chicago
Live video - https://www.ncaa.com/championship/liveplayer/player?gameId=2920227
Regional Page - http://www.uwoshkoshtitans.com/NCAABaseballChampionship/Index

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/

"Us being there before is going to help us, no doubt." Those were head coach Mike Stawski's words as he looked at the Cougars making a second consecutive trip to the Division III World Series. "Last year, I think we got caught looking at the lights a little bit, but that won't be an issue this time."  This time begins this afternoon for the Cougars as they play their first 2018 World Series game at 4:30 against Swarthmore (PA) College 

Swarthmore, located near Philadelphia, comes in with a 37-9 record, champions of the New York region. They swept the.ir regional with a 4-0 record, defeating Southern Maine 9-3 in the final game. The garnet are making their first World series appearance and are in their first NCAA tournament appearance since 1985. 

The Garnet have a powerful offense, having clubbed 43 homers in 46 games. Their top three hitters are high in average and power numbers - Jackson Roberts (.381, 9 HRs), Charles Levitt (.349, 6 3Bs, 9 HRs) and Cole Becker (.3446, 7 HRs. 64 RBIs). Levitt and A.J. Liu are both coming off very strong regionals in which they both hit 10-16 (.625). Swarthmore hits .312 as a team and averages 8.4 runs per game.

The pitching staff has a collective ERA of 3.79. Their ace pitcher, whom CUC will likely face today, , is right-hander Ricky Conti (12-2, 1.94 in 88 innings). Conti has fanned 58 while walking 22. Earlier this week, Conti became the Garnet's first All-American since the 1985 season. Swarthmore also has a formidable closer in Jack Corkery (4-1, 8 saves, 2.13).

CUC head coach Mike Stawski has not announced his starter, but a fair guess might be senior Brian Musielak 96-2, 3.21). Musielak started last week's opener at the regional and then came back on two days rest to pitch a complete-game, 128-pitch 7-1 win over UW-Oshkosh in the first of two championship round games.

As for CUC's offense, one of Swarthmore's first concerns will be limiting the man at the top of the order, shortstop Jose Mercado. He terrorized the opponents at the regional by hitting .600 (15-25) with eight runs scored and seven batted in, along with his five steals and overall base running. Currently, Mercado is second nationally in Division III with 39 steals.

Cougar fans, we remind you to check back at www.cucougars.com after the game for the recap and a link to the post-game press conference.

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