River Forest, Ill. – After going a perfect 6-0 on their spring break trip, the No. 2/4 Concordia University Chicago Baseball team takes to the field again for four games over the course of the weekend. CUC will play the first three games on the road at Wheaton University where they will take on St.Mary's Minnesota, Concordia College (Minn.) and the host Wheaton. The Cougars will then close the weekend on Sunday with their home opener against North Park.
Series History: The Cougars are 6-1 against St.Mary's University since 2011. CUC has won the last six with the last meeting coming in Tucson, Arizona back in 2014. It will be the first ever meeting for CUC against Concordia College out of Minnesota. CUC owns a record of 7-2-1 over Wheaton College. The two teams last met in 2014. The Cougars have won seven straight against North Park, the final opponent of the weekend. CUC won their matchup last season 2-0 which was played at North Park.
On the Hill: The Concordia Chicago pitching staff has been key to the strong start to 2019. Their 2.24 ERA currently ranks fifth in the country. CUC newcomer
Kyle Strepek has been strong on the hill through his first three starts in the maroon and gold. The junior is the reigning NACC pitcher of the week after going 1-0 and not allowing an earned run over 14 innings of work down in Florida. He currently sports a 0.46 ERA with 20 strikeouts on the season which rank in the top five of the NACC. Opponents are batting just .219 against the Cougars this season and CUC has recorded 76 strikeouts.
At the Plate: Not to be outdone, the CUC offense has had a strong start to 2019. As a group CUC is batting .302 on the season and is averaging 8.1 runs per game.
Jose Mercado has gotten off to a hot start in 2019. He is currently batting .462 on the year with 14 runs scored. More impressively, Mercado has stolen 10 bases already.
Mateo Calle has been huge in the bottom part of the CUC order. The outfielder is hitting .520 on the season with a homer and five driven in.
Brody Mariotti has also been big for CUC in the DH role. The sophomore is hitting .367 with a team high four homers and 14 driven in, both of which rank in the top 50 in the country.
Coming Up: Following the four game weekend CUC is scheduled to begin conference play next weekend beginning on Saturday afternoon. The Cougars are set to head to Madison, Wisconsin to take on the Eagles of Edgewood College before returning to River Forest to take on Marian University on Sunday afternoon.
