MEQUON, Wis. ---  The 2022 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) tournament kicked off on Thursday morning, with the Concordia University Chicago baseball team taking on the Milwaukee School of Engineering (MSOE) Raiders. The Raiders were able to strike first, and CUC was unable to mount a rally late, as MSOE downed Concordia by a final score of 10-1.

Jack Rector got the ball for CUC and got the postseason started by working around a one-out single in the first. However, the Raiders were able to strike first in the bottom of the second. Three straight infield singles started the inning, bringing in the opening run of the day. MSOE then brought in a second run to score on a fielding error.

Vincent Sartori came on in relief of Rector and kept the Raiders scoreless until the bottom of the sixth. Back-to-back doubles opened the inning for MSOE, extending the lead to 3-0. The Raiders then got a run when CUC committed an error. A double and a single followed, extending the MSOE lead to 6-0.

After MSOE made it 7-0 in the seventh CUC was able to get a run back in the eighth when Colton Wallace singled to left, scoring Christian Jacob. MSOE added on three more runs in the eighth, leading to the 10-1 final score.

The Cougars will now fight to keep the 2022 season alive on Friday morning in an elimination contest. CUC will take on the loser of game two of the tournament which features Edgewood and St. Norbert. Opening pitch is set for 10:00am from Kapco Park. Links to coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.