CHICAGO, ILL. -- Despite a dominant offensive showing and a career-high day on the mound, the Concordia University Chicago Cougars saw a late lead slip away in a weather-impacted battle against North Park University, falling 10-9 late in the game.
INSIDE THE BOX
- Jake Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) led the way going two-for-four at the plate with two home runs for five RBIs.
- Jack Linko (New Lenox, Ill.) had himself a day going two-for-four at the plate with one RBI and one run of his own.
- Cam Buckley (New Lenox, Ill.) rounded out the multi-hitters for the day going two-for-five at the plate with one run and one stolen base.
- Matthew Licardi (Peoria, Ariz.) had a career outing pitching five innings with six strikeouts and no walks.
HOW IT HAPPENED
- A quick top of the first handed things over to the Cougar defense where Licardi would pick up two strikeouts in four batters faced and kept the game scoreless. The Cougar offense got to work after Xavier Zagerman (Chandler, Ariz.) made his way on base and over to third after a passed ball and a double from Linko, putting the Cougars on the board first.
- Another effective inning in the field for the Cougars with three flyouts to the outfield saw the Cougar offense picking right back up where they left off. A leadoff single from Richie Sperando (Darien, Ill.) paired with a rocket of a home run from Mahler would extend the Cougar lead out to 3-0.
- A scoreless bottom of the third through the top of the fifth saw the final inning of work for Licardi where he would strikeout two and close his day only allowing one run.
- The top of the sixth saw two quick outs but a walk for Dom Owens (Frankfurt, Ill.) and Linko reaching by an error would put two in scoring position for a single to right field for Connor Jerkatis (New Lenox, Ill.) to score both and extend the CUC lead out to 5-1.
- The sixth inning would see a maroon and gold debut on the mound for Jonathan Tipton (Denver, Colo.) who would deliver three outs while only allowing one hit in five batters faced.
- With only a one run lead in the top of the seventh, back-to-back successful bunts from Buckley and Brendan Holloway (Vernon Hills, Ill.) would put runners on the corner bags for Mahler's second home run of the day to extend the Cougars out to an 8-4 advantage.
- With Zagerman finding his way back on base, a sacrifice fly from Owens would score the fourth run of the inning and put the Cougars up 9-4.
- Samuel Beringer (Plainfield, Ill.) would step on the mound and deliver a scoreless inning after forcing a groundout and a double play to send the Cougars back behind their bats. A three up, three down inning would force the Cougars to play defense where they would face a new challenge in a torrential downpour. With the rain making Beringer's life difficult on the mound, the Vikings would tack on six runs in the inning and take the lead for the first time of the day.
- After a 30 minute lightning delay, the Cougars returned to the field needing one run to keep the game alive. A leadoff single for Brandon Mahler (Vernon Hills, Ill.) paired with a throwing error from the North Park pitcher in an attempt to pick B. Mahler off would put the game tying run 90 feet from home plate. A strikeout and an infield out that wouldn't give B. Mahler any chance to leave the bag would put two outs on the board, ultimately closing the game with him still stranded on base.
HIGHLIGHTS
UP NEXT
The Cougars face a short turnaround as they host Illinois Institute of Technology tomorrow, April 14
th, for a doubleheader slated for noon and 3:00 pm. Coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.
