Memphis, Tenn. - The Concordia University Chicago baseball team opened their season with a trip to Memphis, Tenn. to participate in the Rhodes Tournament, only to fall against Rhodes College 11-7.
Inside the Box Score:
● Jake Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) went three-for-four at the plate while collecting two runs, along with two RBIs.
● Brandon Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) went two-for-four at the plate and collected one run, along with five RBIs and his first home run of the season.
● Cam Buckley (New Lenox, Ill.) went one-for-four at the place, grabbing two runs.
How It Happened
● The Cougars got to work right away with Richie Sperando (Darien, Ill.) leading off with a single to right field. Immediately after, Buckley picked up his lone hit of the day in a double that put two runners in scoring position. With J. Mahler delivering a single to right, Sperando would score and the Cougars would strike first. Following suit, B. Mahler sent a rocket to the shortstop that allowed Buckley to score and put CUC up 2-0 quickly. With a Jeffery Beckert (Mount Prospect, Ill.) single moving runners around again, the inning would end with two runners left on base and a 2-0 lead for CUC.
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Jack Carroll (North Aurora, Ill.) made his first career start on the mound, where he closed out the bottom of the first with one hit and three strikeouts to keep the Cougars ahead. In the top of the second,
Xavier Zagerman (Chandler, Ariz.) and Buckley found their way on base after back-to-back walks that allowed a deep single to left field from J. Mahler to score Zagerman and move Buckley to third, putting the Cougars up by three. Keeping with the trend of the first inning, momentum from one Mahler would carry to the next as B. Mahler would double into right field to score two more and close the inning with a five-run lead.
● In the bottom of the second, the Lynx would start to find momentum and managed to pick up two runs on two errors and one hit. After allowing the Lynx to get going, the Cougars fell cold, unable to put up any more runs while the Lynx found ways to score. The dagger would come in the bottom of the fourth where Rhodes would take the 8-5 lead off five hits and one error, a lead that the Cougars would never be able to take back.
● With the bats still cold, the Cougars relied on their pitching staff to hold down the fort as Dylan Ferraro (Windsor, Colo.) came in relief for Carroll and Allen Mateo (Austell, Ga.) and Kyle Ston (Winfield, Ill.) took the mound, combining for one hit, one run, and four strikeouts.
● CUC would trail by as much as five before finally finding their offensive momentum in the top of the seventh. After two quick outs, J. Mahler led things off with a double to center field off a ball that was delicately short of the fence. Feeding off unclaimed energy from a ball that missed the top of the fence by inches, B. Mahler sent a rocket of his own out of the park, scoring two runs and restarting the Cougar energy. Despite an energetic burst, teh Cougars would be unable to get the bats going and fall 11-2.
Highlights
What's Next
Continuing in the Rhodes Tournament, the Cougars will face the University of Chicago tomorrow, February 21st. First pitch is slated for 10:30 am at the Stauffer Field. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
