RIVER FOREST, ILL. - The Concordia University Chicago baseball team took the home field to take on fellow Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) team in the Benedictine University Eagles. The Cougars picked up their first win over the Eagles since the 2023 season while extending their record to 13-10 overall and 4-4 in the NACC.

GAME ONE: 3-0 W
INSIDE THE BOX

• Tyler Krater (Phoenix, Ariz.) led the charge going two-for-three at the plate as the only Cougar to notch multiple hits in the game.
• Jake Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) hit his WHAT home run of the year to give the Cougars the lead that they would hold onto for the entirety of the game. Mahler went one-for-three with one RBI.
• Four arms dealt for the Cougars in Ryan Renella (Bartlett, Ill.), Bryce Jones (Ottawa, Ill.), Connor FitzGerald (Chicago, Ill.), and Jack Linko (New Lenox, Ill.). Jones picked up his first win of the season while Linko picked up his second save.

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Eagles were held scoreless in the top of the first despite a leadoff double putting a runner on base. In the bottom of the inning, Elijah Hickman (Rensselaer, Ind.) would jump start things with a single to right field himself. A walk for Kasik would move Hickman to second, but two consecutive outs would leave runners stranded.
• In the top of the second, a quick four batters would close the inning, but leave a runner on base for the second consecutive inning. The Cougars would hope to jump start things in their half of the inning, but a double though the left side from Krater paired with a walk for Richie Sperando (Darien, Ill.) would leave two on base and hand things right back over to the Cougar defense. 
• This back-and-forth exchange would happen for another inning until a solo homer from Mahler with two outs in the bottom of the third would put the first run on the board. 
• Things would remain scoreless until the bottom of the seventh where the Cougars would get hot once again. Two walks would put the Cougar runners on first and second where a single to centerfield from Brandon Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) would send one run in and put the Cougars up 2-0. With runners on first and second, a double to the right center wall from Krater would score another and give the Cougars the 3-0 lead heading to the top of the eighth.
• Eight batters across two innings would result in a Cougar win with Linko on the mound, securing the Cougars' first win over the Eagles since April of 2023. 

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 


GAME TWO: 7-6 L 
INSIDE THE BOX

• Dom Owens (Frankfurt, Ill.) led the charge in game two going three-for-four at the plate.
• Krater was the only other Cougar to record multiple hits in the game going two-for-four at the plate with a team-high two RBIs. 
• Connor Jerkatis (New Lenox, Ill.) went one-for-one at the plate picking up a hit in a crucial moment.
• Linko also went one-for-one at the plate picking up a hit in another crunch time at bat. 
• Five arms dealt on the mound in game two in Dylan Ferraro (Windsor, Colo.), Jack Carroll (North Aurora, Ill.), Kadin Borck (McHenry, Ill.), Benjamin Tietyen (Oak Creek, Wis.), and Kyle Connelly (New Lenox, Ill.). Each relief pitcher worked one inning on the mound with Carroll picking up one strikeout in three batters faced, Tietyen picking up one strikeout in four batters faced, and Connelly picking up two strikeouts in four batters faced. 

HOW IT HAPPENED

• The Eagles got things rolling right away in game two and put two runs up off two hits, leaving the Cougars trailing for the first time of the day. In the bottom of the first, the Cougars struggled to get going and were forced back into the field after four batters. The Eagles tacked another two runs on in the top of the second, leaving the Cougars trailing 4-0 until the bottom of the third.
• CUC would get on the board first after a walk would put Hickman on base. With Hickman stealing second, he would be in scoring position where a single from Tyler Dorsch (Phoenix, Ariz.) would give Hickman time to take two bases and leaving Dorsch at second after advancing the the attempted throw home. With Dorsch stealing third a few pitches later, a single up the middle from Krater would give time for Dorsch to cross home and cut the Eagles' lead in half. 
• A quick three up, three down in the top fo the fourth would give the Cougars time to get hot, but after leaving two on base they would be forced to play defense yet again. The Eagles would put one more run up in the top of the fifth, but the Cougars would counter with a run of their own in the bottom of the inning after hits from Michael Kasik, (Chandler, Ariz.), Krater, and Owens.
• Trailing by two, the Cougars would give up two more runs in the top of the seventh and officially put the pressure on the Cougars. Crunch time would start to set in during the bottom of the eighth where a leadoff double from Owens would put a runner in scoring position right away. Jerkatis would come in to pinch hit, and a single to right field would put Owens 90 feet from home plate. A sacrifice fly from Yashion Boswell (Lynwood, Ill.) would score Owens and bring the Cougars within three. 
• With Josiah King (Fairland, Ind.) coming in to pinch run, a single to centerfield from Linko would put King at second and Linko at first with only one out on the board. The Eagles would change arms on the mound in an attempt to slow the Cougars down, but a wild pitch would move the Cougar runners to second and third and eliminate the force out for the runners. A groundout from Hickman would give time for King to score and bring the Cougars within two heading to the top of the ninth.
• Back-to-back strikouts from Connelly would put two outs on the board while a flyout to deep shortstop would be caught by Xavier Zagerman (Chandler, Ariz.) and leave the Cougars trailing by two heading to the bottom of the ninth. 
• With one out off a first batter groundout, back-to-back walks would put runners on first and second and force the Eagles to make yet another pitching change. With the change, a third walk would load up the bases for the Cougars, with the game winning run on first base. A hard hit ball to shortstop from B. Mahler would result in the out at second, but send a run across home plate and leave the Cougars with two outs and runners on the corners. Unable to capitalize, the Cougars would fall with a heartbreaking 7-6 final score, splitting the day with the Eagles.

HIGHLIGHTS

 

 


The Cougars will host the Edgewood College Eagles on Saturday, April 5th as they celebrate Alumni Day. First pitch is slated for noon while coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.