Box Score Concordia University Chicago baseball (1-4) lost a tough game to the North Park University Vikings (6-0) on Wednesday night by a final score of 22-6.
The Vikings jumped on the board early with four runs in the bottom of the first inning, three of which were unearned thanks to three errors from the Cougar defense.
CUC had a quick response, scoring three runs of their own in the second. The first run came home after sophomore Gary Maynard (Oswego, Ill.) was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, the second time in as many innings the Cougar lead-off man took one for the team.
The next two runs were brought home by junior Howie Hatton (North Riverside, Ill.), who roped a single to right field that scored fellow junior Niles Gall (Oak Lawn, Ill.) and sophomore Colton Wallace (Hampshire, Ill.).
The team didn't score again until the eighth, when they again posted a three-spot thanks to a double from Hatton, a sac-fly from Wallace and an RBI hit by sophomore Adam Finstein (Elgin, Ill.).
Vincent Saratori (Crest Hill, Ill.) was able to keep the lively Viking bats quiet while on the mound. The freshman tossed two scoreless innings and allowed just three hits. He was able to keep the ball on the ground, recording four of his outs via the ground ball.
Fellow freshman Jack Rector (Peoria, Ariz.) struck out three batters after taking over on the bump in the bottom of the sixth. Sophomore Chandler Kerr (Lockport, Ill.) and junior Zach Litke (Oak Lawn, Ill.) threw scoreless innings in the seventh and eighth inning, respectively.
The Cougars are off until next Wednesday, March 24, when they will welcome the Milwaukee School of Engineering to River Forest for a doubleheader and their first home game since the 2019 Super Regional. First pitch for game one is scheduled for 1 p.m. and a stream to the game will be available on the CUC
Athletics Youtube channel.
