WESTFIELD, IND. -- Concluding their weekend trip to Indiana The Concordia University Chicago Cougars downed the College of St. Scholastica 7-5.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Tyler Dorsch (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the offense for the Cougars after grabbing four hits in five at bats while driving in two RBIs.
- Following behind, sophomore Michael Kasik (Chandler, Ariz.) went three for four on the day, capitalized by two doubles.
- Chandler Kerr (Lockport, Ill.) picked up his first win of the season after pitching six full innings highlighted by three strikeouts.
With the Cougars at the plate first, the bats got moving as they picked up two hits in the top of the first inning.
Christian Jacob (Scottsdale, Ariz.) was the first Cougar to record a hit after he picked up a double to right field before Dorsch sent his first shot of the day right up the middle and sent Jacob home to put the Cougars up 1-0. With Kerr on the bump, he put his infield to work as he drew two outs at first and a strikeout.
Continuing to heat up at the top of the second inning,
Jaime Sandoval (Oak Lawn, Ill.) placed a perfectly placed sacrifice-bunt up the first base line to move the others around the bases and into scoring position. A single to right field from
Elijah Hickman (Rensselaer, Ind.) would send a run home before a sacrifice-fly to center field from Jacob would score the other runner on base, giving the Cougars a 3-1 advantage.
The Saints got themselves on the board in the bottom of the second after a leadoff triple put them in scoring position. As Kerr continued to throw heat, he found himself making moves to get out of the inning as he threw his second strikeout of the game and had to bolt from the mound to flip the ball to first for the third out of the inning.
Things stayed pretty stagnant between the two teams as they stayed 3-1 for two and a half innings before the Cougars found their swing again. Kasik put a ball down in right field to get himself on base before Dorsch smashed his third bomb of the day and put Kasik in scoring position. As Dorsch took off for second, a high throw from the Saints' catcher would give Kasik enough time to dash home and extend their lead to 4-1.
The Saints were able to tie things up after a string of runs in the bottom of the fifth inning, but the Cougars answered back right away. In the top of the sixth with Sandoval on first, Hickman laid a sacrifice-bunt to move Sandoval into scoring position. With Jacob back at the plate after previously securing a sac-fly and a double, he delivered once again and dropped a ball to the centerfield fence. Losing his helmet along the way, Jacob beat the throw and drove Sandoval home to jump back ahead 5-4.
Needing some more insurance runs heading into the top of the seventh inning, the Cougars got things rolling once again. A long shot to center field from Kasik secured the double and put him in scoring position. With Dorsch going yard once again, Kasik found his way across the plate and the Cougars jumped ahead by two. Picking up his lone hit of the day, senior catcher
Carter Gledhill (Arlington Heights, Ill.) found his spark at just the right time, getting on base and advancing to second on the next play. Third baseman
Tyler Krater (Phoenix, Ariz.) picked up his first hit of the day at one of the most vital points in the game, sending Gledhill home off his double.
With the score sitting stale, the game was anything but. Five combined hits in the last two innings kept the Cougars on their toes despite their regained lead. With senior pitcher
Mike Tobin (Hickory Hills, Ill.) in for relief, the Cougars closed the game 7-5 and bumped their opening weekend record to 2-1 for the first time since the 2020 season.
The Cougars will be back in action next week as they head to the Sunshine State for the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational. The Cougars will play seven games in eight days with their first game set for Saturday, March 4th. Coverage and updates can be found at cucougars.com and on Twitter
@cucbaseball.
