Concordia University Chicago baseball (1-3) finished up their weekend trip to Greencastle, Ind. by splitting a doubleheader with the Depauw University Tigers (6-4).

The Cougars won game one thanks to timely hitting and pitching. They were effective at bringing home runners from scoring position and we're equally as effective and preventing the Tigers from doing so, holding on to win 9-6.

Despite leading most of the game, the Cougars fell 15-13 in the afternoon matchup. It was an offensive showcase that allowed the team to flex some of their power, but they were unable to prevail in the end as the Tigers scored 14 runs in their final three at-bats. 

Game One
It took almost no time for the Cougars to get on the board Sunday, with sophomore Bryce Vincent (Algonquin, Ill.) driving in junior Howie Hatton (North Riverside, Ill.) with a sac-fly in the first. 

Tied at one in the second, freshman Aidan Donovan (Santee, Calif.) hit a scorching double passed the first baseman to score two. Donovan made his way to third base and eventually scored on a botched pick-off attempt at first, giving the Cougars a 4-1 lead. 

The Cougars chased Depauw's starter in the fourth after junior Nathan Dewey (Geneva, Ill.) led the inning off with a triple and scored on a single from sophomore Colton Wallace (Hampshire, Ill.) that made it a 5-3 game. 

The team continued to flex their power in the fifth, when junior Kevin Garcia (Chicago, Ill.) unloaded a deep two-run homer to left field to extend the Cougar lead to 7-3. 

Depauw threatened, cutting the lead to 7-5, but CUC had some insurance runs in the tank. Back-to-back run-scoring singles from Hatton and Vincnent in the eighth made it a 9-5 game. 

Westin Stutzman (Goshen, Ind.) got the start in game one and was masterful at working around trouble early on. In five innings of work the sophomore stranded eight Tiger runners on base, including a strikeout to escape a bases loaded jam in the second. Stutzman struck out four and allowed just three earned runs on his way to his first collegiate win. 

Freshman Jon Meyers (Elmhurst, Ill.) made his Cougar debut in relief of Stutzman, tossing three innings, striking out three and allowing two earned on three hits. Senior Robert Perna (Palatine, Ill.) pitched a perfect ninth to earn the save and give CUC its first win in a year. 

Game Two
The Cougars scored in the first inning for the third time in four games, with Garcia dropping a single into shallow right that scored a pair. 

Aidan Donovan flashed his skills on both sides of the ball on Sunday. The freshman gunned down a runner trying to leg out a double in the bottom of the first and followed it up with an RBI single in the second. 

The scoring picked back up again in the fifth. Senior Brody Mariotti (Yorktown, Ind.) stole home after Garcia drew the attention of the infield by escaping a pickle between first and second. After junior Matthew Uba (Darien, Ill.) was hit by a pitch, Dewey split a gap in deep right center field to score the pair and make it a 6-1 game. 

Sophomore Garry Maynard (Oswego, Ill.) launched his second home run of the weekend with a solo shot in the sixth inning. Three batters later, Mariotti sent one over the 400 ft sign in dead center for a two-run shot, his third in four games. This offensive explosion put the Cougars ahead 9-1. 

After Depauw jumped back in the game with five runs in the sixth, the Cougars were able to put some padding back on their lead thanks to heads up baserunning from junior Michael Zavoli (Lake Barrington, Ill.) and an RBI knock from Hatton, which made it 11-6. 

The Tigers were resilient, cutting the lead to 11-10 in the seventh. It was obvious how badly the Cougars wanted the sweep, however, as RBIs from juniors Niles Gall (Oak Lawn, Ill.) and Zavoli the following inning put the team back up three. 

The last laugh was ultimately had by Depauw as they hung five runs in the bottom half of the eighth to take a 15-13 lead. Despite how powerful the bats were all day on Sunday, this proved to be too much to overcome. 

The Cougars used six arms in the losing effort. Starter Ryan Davila (Gurnee, Ill.) threw five solid innings, allowing six hits and four earned while striking out three. The only other Cougar to record a strikeout was freshman Vincent Saratori (Crest Hill, Ill.), who tossed 0.2 innings in his collegiate debut.