RIVER FOREST, Ill. – After being named the number one team in the country in both the ABCA and D3Baseball.com polls, the Concordia Chicago Cougars will put their nation leading 19 game winning streak on the line four times this weekend. They will begin the weekend hosting rival Concordia Wisconsin on Saturday before heading to Lakeland on Sunday.
Series History: The Cougars and Falcons have met 30 times since the 2007 season. CUC owns a 22-8 record over that span, including a 10-2 record at home. CUC has taken eight of the last 11 games in the series, including an 8-2 win to eliminate CUW in the NACC tournament last season. The Cougars have outscored the Falcons by an average of just over three runs per game in the series. CUC owns a 21-3 record against their second opponent of the weekend Lakeland. CUC is 8-2 at Lakeland during that span. The Cougars have won the last 12 games in the series including both games last season by scores of 16-1 and 5-2. CUC has outscored the Muskies 237-85 during the series.
About the Cougars: The unanimous number one ranked Concordia Chicago baseball team comes in 19-1 overall and 8-0 in the NACC. They have won a nation leading 19 games in a row coming into the weekend. The Cougars have found a bunch of different ways to win during the streak. They currently have the fifth ranked pitching staff in the nation with a 2.50 ERA.
Cole Carman continues to lead the team with a 0.95 ERA and a 0.85 WHIP in 28 innings of work. The sophomore has a 4-1 record to go along with 26 strikeouts to just five walks on the season. Closer
Mike Tobin has been nearly untouchable this season as well. He has three saves and has allowed just four hits while striking out six in just under seven innings of work. Offensively CUC used the long ball in the sweep of IIT. The Cougars ranks sixth in the country in homers this season and 31
st in stolen bases.
Jose Mercado has stolen 24 bases on the season which ranks fifth in the country while
Brody Mariotti and
Connor Brandon rank in the top thirty in homers.
About the Falcons: The Concordia Wisconsin Falcons come into the weekend 8-12 overall and 4-4 in the NACC. Last time out they split an NACC series with Benedictine. They took the opener by a 2-1 final before dropping the second game 15-6. Sophomore Tyler Haffey leads the team with a .393 average on the season. Austin Dart and Charlie Rodriguez both lead the team with 10 RBI's on the season. As a team CUW is hitting .302 on the season. Senior Matthew Olig has been the top arm this season for the Falcons. He has a 2-2 record and a 2.70 ERA in 26.2 innings pitched. As a team CUW has a 6.59 ERA on the season with 126 strikeouts and 94 walks.
About the Muskies: The Lakeland University Muskies come into the weekend 2-17 overall and 2-6 in the NACC. They have lost their last three after getting swept by Carthage on Tuesday afternoon. They will open the weekend on Saturday at Wisconsin Lutheran. Connor Hilburn leads the team with a .317 average on the season. Travis Regalado leads the team with 12 driven in on the year. As a team Lakeland is hitting .217 on the season. On the hill Nathan Hemmerling leads the Muskies with a 2.59 ERA on the season. He has a 2.59 ERA in 24.1 innings of work. He has recorded 38 strikeouts to just seven walks, and opponents are batting just .250 against him. As a team Lakeland has a 7.85 ERA so far this season.
Next Up: Following the weekend CUC will get ready for a six game week. The Cougars will take on the University of Wisconsin-LaCrosse on Thursday afternoon at home to kick off the busy week.
