Box Score 1 | Box Score 2 Concordia University Chicago baseball (0-2) returned to the field on Saturday for the first time since March 14, 2020 with a doubleheader against the Tigers of Depauw University (5-3) in Greencastle, Ind. 
 
The first game was what you'd expect from a team playing their first game in a year, as it took a while to get the bats going. The Cougars hung around but could never string together enough hits in a row to muster up some runs, ultimately falling 4-2. 
 
Game two was the complete opposite, with 23 total runs scored in a back-and-forth battle that saw the Cougars fall 12-11. It was a tough loss but one that showed the battle that this team has.
 
Game One
The long awaited 2021 season had as explosive of a start as you could ask for. Sophomore Garry Maynard (Oswego, Ill.) cranked a home run to deep left field in the first Cougar at-bat in a year and Cougars led 1-0 almost immediately. This would be the only lead the team held in game one, however.
 
After stranding runners on base in the first two innings, Depauw broke through in the third with a pair of two-out runs. Starting pitcher Cole Carman (Littleton, Colo.) was able to work around trouble, however and prevented a big inning by stranding two more Tigers on base. 
 
Carman evaded trouble most of the afternoon. After the Tigers put runners on second and third with just one out in the sixth, the senior induced a ground ball back to himself and capped off an eight pitch battle with a strikeout to get out of the inning. 
 
The Cougars loaded the bases on three straight walks with two outs in the seventh but were again unable to capitalize. They flashed some speed in the inning, with junior Niles Gall (Oak Lawn, Ill.) swiping second after entering the game as a pinch runner. Depauw loaded the bases in the bottom half of the inning and took advantage with a two-out two-run double to deep left center to make it 4-1. 
 
Senior Brody Mariotti (Yorktown, Ind.) broke the team's scoring drought with a solo shot to dead center in the eighth. Junior Matthew Uba (Darien, Ill.) was then hit by a pinch and would advance to third on a two-out single by fellow junior Nathan Dewey (Geneva, Ill.). This brought up Gall, who hit a rocket right at the first baseman to end the inning.   
 
Mariotti stepped to the plate with two outs in the ninth inning representing the go-ahead run. After a tough at-bat that included the senior ripping what was nearly a three-run homer, the Tigers were able to secure the 27th and final out of the afternoon. 
 
Carman was strong in his season debut, tossing six innings, striking out five and allowing just two earned runs. The Cougar bats began to wake up in the later innings. Sophomore Bryce Vincent (Algonquin, Ill.) had a pair of singles in the sixth and the ninth, Uba doubled in the seventh and freshman Aidan Donovan (Santee, Calif.) collected his first college hit with a ninth inning single. 
 
Game Two
It was Depauw who jumped to a quick 1-0 lead in the night cap. Their lead didn't last long, as Mariotti evened things in the top of the second with his second mammoth home run of the day. Junior Kevin Garcia (Chicago, Ill.) walked following the home run and would eventually cross the plate on a wild pitch to put the Cougars ahead 2-1.
 
Depauw again took the lead in the second, scoring two runs following a controversial "safe" call at first base that resulted in an infield single. Starting pitcher Chandler Kerr (Lockport, Ill.) was able to put the madness behind him and work out of a bases loaded jam. The questionable call seemed to fire up the CUC bats, as they responded with a four spot in the top half of the third. 
 
Nine batters stepped to the plate for the Cougars in their massive third inning. Vincent led things off with a double, and would later steal third and score on a throwing error. Uba and Dewey made the Tigers pay for issuing back-to-back walks with a pair of doubles down the line to take a 6-3 lead. 
 
The Tigers got a run back in the bottom of the inning on a single up the middle. Senior Cade Laudenschlager (Cave Creek, Ill.) relieved Kerr and continued the Cougars' trend of working out of jams by striking out the Tiger lead-off hitter on a 3-2 pitch to strand two more runners. 
 
The bottom of the fourth was a tough inning for the Cougars. Depauw scored three runs, including one unearned, and regained the lead for the third time in the young game. 
 
Just like in the early innings, the Cougars had an immediate response when facing a deficit. Junior Michael Zavoli (Lake Barrington, Ill.) got the scoring started with a single to right that scored Dewey to tie the game. Maynard then doubled to deep center to bring in the go ahead run and put the Cougars ahead for the third time. An insurance run came via an infield error, and the Cougars led 9-7 halfway through. 
 
Trailing 10-9 in the eighth, the Cougars loaded the bases with no one out. After the next two batters were retired, Donovan delivered his first collegiate RBIs when his team needed him most, with a two-run single to center. 
 
They took this lead to the bottom of the ninth, but a walk and back-to-back doubles by the Tigers sealed CUC's fate in the 12-11 battle.
 
The Cougars used four pitchers in the Game Two loss, all with about equal usage. Kerr went 2.1 innings to start, followed by 2.2 solid innings from Laudenschlager. Junior Mike Tobin (Hickory Hills, Ill.) held down the fort with two innings of work and two earned runs, and freshman Jack Rector (Peoria, Ariz.) took the loss in the ninth after tossing a clean eighth in his debut.