RIVER FOREST, ILL. – The Concordia University Chicago baseball team stepped on the home field at The Thunderdome for the first time this season in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) opener against the St. Norbert Green Knights. The Cougars split the day picking up the 6-1 victory in game one and the 11-8 loss in game two.
GAME ONE: 6-1 W
INSIDE THE BOX
- Elijah Hickman (Rensselaer, Ind.) led the offense going two for two at the plate with both hits being doubles. Hickman scored three runs while successfully stealing one base.
- Brandon Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) led the team in RBIs with two after picking up one double on the day.
- Wyatt McLaughlin (Cave Creek, Ariz.) picked up the win for the Cougars pitching five complete innings while only allowing one unearned run while securing 6 strikeouts.
- Only two other pitchers made appearances in the game with Bryce Jones (Ottowa, Ill.) and David Deimling (Bloomingdale, Ill.) each pitching one inning for one strikeout apiece.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- A fast paced two and a half innings would leave the game blank heading into the bottom of the third. Between the two teams, there would only be one hit and one error with no more than four batters seen in an inning before the Cougars would open the floodgates.
- A leadoff double from Hickman followed by Julio Cajigas (Romeoville, Ill.) making his way on base would allow a fielder's choice from Mahler to put runners on the corners. With a passed ball going astray, Hickman would be able to make the 90 foot dash and pick up the first run of the day.
- With the Cougars taking the lead for the first time in three innings, the Green Knights wouldn't take too long to equalize with an unearned run of their own off an error from the Cougars.
- Heading into the bottom of the fourth a quick two up two down situation didn't look promising for the Cougars to start their jump ahead but a single to right field from Nick Rensberger (Milford, Ind.) would get things going with two outs. Following Rensberger's two out single, Hickman would pick up his second double of the day off a hard hit ball up the first base line that would sneak into the right field corner and put two runners in scoring position.
- An error from the Green Knights would score Rensberger and put runners back on the corners before a walk would load the bases. Mahler would be able to sneak a ball up the first base line in the exact same spot as Hickman and pull two more runs and put them up 4-1 heading into the top of the fifth.
- Doing a little more work than the previous innings, McLaughlin would walk two batters and give up a single to left field but forcing two back-to-back pop ups to second base for Jake Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) to rope in to hold the bases loaded. An energetic strikeout to close the inning leaving three runners on base would close McLaughlin's time on the mound.
- With a quiet bottom of the fifth for the Cougars and top of the sixth for the Green Knights the Cougars would get the chance to keep rallying.
- With two quick outs and Hickman and Tyler Dorsch (Phoenix, Ariz.) on base from walks, a ball out to left field from B. Mahler would score both runners and give the Cougars their final runs of the game.
- In the top of the seventh back-to-back groundouts to Yashion Boswell (Lynwood, Ill.) at second would put the final out in the hands of Deimling who would pick up the swinging strikeout to close the game with the 6-1 win.
HIGHLIGHTS
GAME TWO: 11-8 L
INSIDE THE BOX
- B. Mahler led the offense in game two, playing as the DH and picking up three hits in five at bats with two RBIs while picking up the first homerun at The Thunderdome for the Cougars.
- Michael Kasik (Chandler, Ariz.) also went long in game two, picking up a two run homer in the seventh inning.
- Tyler Krater (Phoenix, Ariz.) worked at the plate going two for three with two RBIs.
- Seven pitchers made appearances in game two, with four leaving with clean slates. Richard Gomez (Chicago, Ill.), Dylan Ferraro (Windsor, Colo.) both made their home field debut while allowing no runs while Jones and Deimling both reappeared in game two while putting up blanks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- Three quick outs in the top of the first started the Cougars out on a high note. Building off their defensive efforts, a leadoff walk for Cajigas paired with a double from Dorsch would put runners in scoring position. A Green Knight error would score one run and move runners to the corners for a sacrifice fly from Krater to score another and put the Cougars up 2-0 after one complete inning.
- The Green Knights would retaliate rather quickly and put up one lone run off three hits to cut the Cougar lead in half. Despite another Hickman double in the bottom of the second, the Cougars would be unable to capitalize on it and close the inning scoreless.
- Five walks in the top of the third would score two runs for the Green Knights and steal the lead from the Cougars.
- A leadoff single from Dorsch in the bottom of the third paired with a single from B. Mahler would put runners on first and third with no outs. After taking a hit off the pitch, Kasik would make his way to first and load the bases up for Krater. A sacrifice fly from Krater would send Dorsch home before a double play would close the inning with the Cougars even with the Green Knights.
- A dominant top of the fourth would catapult the Green Knights ahead of the Cougars off four hits to pick up five runs and jump out 8-3 over CUC. Three up three down in the Cougars' half of the inning would give power back to the Green Knights, but a scoreless inning from Gomez would halt them in place.
- A two-run homer from B. Mahler would jumpstart the inning for the Cougars with Krater following up with a double through the left side. With J. Mahler finding his way to base and putting two runners on, the Cougars would be unable to advance the runners any further and close the inning trailing 8-5.
- Another three runs for the Green Knights would undo the work the Cougars had done in the previous inning and hold stagnant for the next inning. Needing to find their footing once again, a leadoff single from B. Mahler would set up Kasik for a rocket of a shot out to left field to make the score 11-7. A double from Krater right after the homer would keep the momentum going where a single from Ben Labutka (Park Ridge, Ill.) would send Krater home to score the last run of the day.
- With no real movement for another two innings, the do or die time kicked in for the Cougars in the bottom of the ninth. Two quick outs would force the Cougars to do some work with their backs against the wall where Caleb Anderson (Plainfield, Ill.) would start things off with a single to left field. With Hickman battling through an extensive at bat and taking a walk to first, the Cougars would be unable to come out of the inning with any runs and close the game with the 11-8 loss.
HIGHLIGHTS
The Cougars will take on some non-conference action on Tuesday as they head to Wheaton College for a single game scheduled for 5:00 PM. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
