River Forest, Ill. - The Concordia University Chicago (CUC) Cougars baseball team hosted the Concordia University Wisconsin Falcons for their final regular season game. In game one, the two teams did not go down without a fight, but the Cougars could not grab hold of the win and fell 9-7. In game two, the Cougar bats were burning and the team came out on top in seven innings, 11-1. With this win, Head Coach Kolin Conner obtained his 100th career win.
Game One
Inside the Box Score:
- Jake Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) had a great game one, going two for four on the day where he had three RBIs, and a home run to lead the Cougar offense.
- Also going two for four in the game was Xavier Zagerman (Chandler, Ariz.), where he added an RBI to his stat line.
Here's What Happened:
- The Falcons put a run up on the board to take an early 1-0 lead where Michael Kasik (Chandler, Ariz.) tried to get something going for the Cougars with a single up the middle but was left stranded to close out the inning.
- At the top of the second the Falcons matched their energy from the first, where they put up two runs increasing their lead to 3-0.
- Cam Buckley (New Lenox, Ill.) placed himself on first with a single to center field, followed by a deep double from birthday boy Zagerman which then brought home Buckley. The Cougars slowly chipped at the Falcon lead heading into the top of the third where the score was 3-1.
- The Cougars came alive in the top of the third where they didn't allow any runs for the Falcons and then carried that same energy into the bottom half of the innings. Tyler Dorsch (Phoenix, Ariz.) had a lead off double followed by a Mahler home run to tie the game up at three apiece.
- After a bases loaded situation at the top of the fourth, a walk and wild pitch for the Cougars allowed in two more runs, where the Falcons took the lead at 5-3.
- Two back-to-back singles by Zagerman and Elijah Hickman (Rensselaer, Ind.) as well as Dorsch being walked loaded the bases up for the Cougars. A very ideal situation considering they were operating on just one out. Kasik singled to center field allowing both Zagerman and Hickman to reach home, and Dorsch to advance to second.
- Mahler was up to bat after a pitching change by the Falcons, where he singled up the middle running in Dorsch and Tyler Krater (Phoenix, Ariz.) had a sacrifice fly bringing home Kasik to have the Cougars regain the lead at 7-5.
- Neither team put up any runs in the fifth inning, but at the top of the sixth, the Falcons had three runs of two hits in the inning where they stole the lead again making the score 8-7.
- The Cougars did not put up any runs at the bottom of sixth or seventh, and also held the Falcons at the top of the seventh, but the Falcons were still leading 8-7 heading into the eighth inning.
- In the eighth, the Falcons put up one more run to extend their lead to two and the Cougars did not answer at the bottom half of the inning making the score 9-7 heading into the ninth.
- The Cougars held the Falcons scoreless in the top of the ninth and looked to get a couple runs to get into extra innings or a walk-off.
- Unfortunately, the Cougars could not put up the necessary runs to overtake the Falcons and fell in game one 9-7.
Game Two
Inside the Box Score:
- Mahler went a perfect three for three in game two adding one RBI.
- Kasik went three for four and Krater went two for four adding two and three RBIs respectively.
- Ryan Renella (Bartlett, Ill.) picked up the win on the mound after pitching all seven innings. Renella had five strikeouts on 27 batters faced.
Here's What Happened:
- In a shift of momentum between games one and two, the Cougars found themselves on the board first. Three consecutives singles by Dorsch, Kasik, and Mahler would load the bases up in the bottom of the first. With no outs and Krater up to bat, he got his first hit of the day with a single to left field bringing home Dorsch. Kasik also tried to get home, but the Falcons had a perfect throw to home tagging him out. Regardless, the Cougars were on the board first with runners on first and second.
- Dom Owens (Frankfort, Ill.) was up to bat for the first time today where he wasted no time getting a double, to bring home Mahler and advance Krater to third. Yashion Boswell (Lynwood, Ill.) singled and then was followed by a single from Buckley, to bring home Krater and advance everyone one base. To round out the scoring, Zagerman grounded out to the shortstop but allowed all runners to advance and Owens to score. The Cougars came out hot in the bottom of the first where they grabbed an early 4-0 lead.
- The Cougars kept the Falcons scoreless in the top of the second and third as well and came out swinging at the bottom of the third. Owens had a lead off single, followed by Boswell being hit by a pitch placing runners on first and second. Operating with two outs, Elijah Hickman (Rensselaer, Ind.) singled to second base advancing Boswell to third and Owens was able to reach first.
- Dorsch was then hit by a pitch, advancing Hickman to second and loading the bases. Kasik had a single to right field where both Boswell and Hickman ran in with no trouble and Dorsch advanced to second.
- Rounding out the scoring for the bottom of the third, Mahler singled to left field allowing Dorsch to come home. Another four run inning for the Cougars increased their lead to 8-0.
- The Falcons put up their first run of the game and only run of the inning, but still trailed 8-1 heading into the bottom of the inning.
- Neither team put up any runs until the bottom of the fifth. Hickman reached first on a fielder's choice then stole second and third base to place him in a favorable scoring position. Dorsch was walked but then was caught stealing, but this allowed Hickman to steal home, putting up another run for the Cougars.
- Kasik singled up the middle and Mahler was walked. With runners on first and second, a Krater rocket to right center rounded out the scoring for the inning where the Cougars now led 11-1.
- The Cougars did not allow the Falcons to put up any runs in the sixth or seventh inning and without needing to go up to bat due to the run rule, the Cougars took game two 11-1.
What's Next
The Cougars clinched a spot in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) tournament early. The tournament is listed to begin May 7th and go through May 11th. Any updates on tournament information and all things CUC baseball can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
