RIVER FOREST, ILL – After fighting an almost two hour weather delay, Concordia University Chicago battled against their rivals of the North, Concordia University Wisconsin where the Cougars downed the Falcons. Prior to the weather delay, the Concordia University Chicago baseball time took time to honor former Cougar pitcher Drew Knipper in an honorary jersey retirement ceremony in memory of the pitcher. Knipper's retired jersey marks the first number to be retired in Cougar baseball history.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Michael Kasik led the offense going four-for-five at the plate with five RBIs after picking up two homeruns on the day.
- Brandon Mahler followed closely behind going three-for-four at the plate with a solo homerun himself and picking up two RBIs.
- Garry Maynard picked up two RBIs while going two-for-five at the plate with a solo homerun.
- Tyler Dorsch picked up one RBI on the day off a solo homerun out to centerfield while going two-for-five at the plate.
- Westin Stutzman picked up his fifth win of the season after delivering six complete innings on the mound complete with three strikeouts and one allowed run.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- With Stutzman ready to work on the mound, the Cougars faced a quick three up, three down to hand things over to the offense. In the bottom of the first, a double from Maynard would jumpstart things for the Cougars before a single up the middle from Kasik would score the run and give the Cougars an early 1-0 lead.
- Again holding the Falcons scoreless with only four batters faced, the Cougars took the bats back and went to work. After reaching first off an error from the Falcons, Caleb Anderson worked his way around the bases and was able to score off a base hit from Mahler. Mahler worked his way around the bases off a sacrifice bunt from Jaime Sandoval and a stolen base.
- As the Falcons were still trying to get on the board for the first time in the game, a bases loaded situation in the bottom of the third seemed promising, but a skyball in foul territory was able to be secured by Mahler and get the Cougars out of a pinch.
- Looking to keep the trend of scoring in every inning going, the Cougars picked up one run in the bottom of the third after the first homerun of the day came off the bat of Kasik.
- The Cougars saw their biggest offensive inning in the bottom of the fourth after a leadoff single from Elijah Hickman kicked things off. A double out to right center from Dorsch put two runners in scoring position before Maynard would send a run in off a hit to the infield. With one runner left in scoring position, another homerun from Kasik would score two and give the Cougars the 6-1 advantage.
- With freshman Tyler Pritchard stepping onto the mound, two strikeouts and a diving catch in left field from Dorsch, would end the inning with the Falcons still sitting with only one run. Breaking the scoring streak, the Cougars went scoreless for the first inning of the day. A big eighth inning for the Falcons threatened the Cougars as they cut the deficit to only three runs, but the Cougars were able to answer back promptly.
- After swinging on the first pitch, Dorsch sent a rocket to centerfield and picked up his second homerun of the season to give the Cougars their three-run lead back. On the very next pitch, Maynard would send a confident longball out to right field for his first homerun of the day to give the Cougars the final 10-5 lead.
HIGHLIGHTS
Due to the weather delays to begin the day, and the forecasted weather to close the day, the Cougars were unable to play the second game against the Falcons and closed the day 1-0 over the Falcons. They face a quick turnaround as they take on the number one team in the conference, Aurora University, tomorrow at Aurora. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
