May 12, 2017 – Tonight's pivotal second-round game of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament pitted the top-seeded Concordia-Chicago Cougars against the host school and second seed, the Concordia Wisconsin Falcons. The winner of this game would have the shortest path to a tournament title, needing to win just one game on Saturday.
In the end, the Cougars got it done, but through difficult circumstances. So difficult, in fact, that the fans on the postgame social media were resurrecting the old nickname of "The Cardiac Cougars" to describe CUC's comeback from a 4-1 deficit in the eighth inning to a 5-4 victory.
"I'm at a loss for words, but on the other hand, I'm not shocked," said CUC head coach Mike Stawski. Referring to the team's heart and determination, Stawski added, "This is how we play and this is what we do. I'll take this group of players every time."
Tonight's game started out much like Thursday's game against Benedictine with both starting pitchers, CUW's Andrew Gibbons and CUC's Cody Caballero, on top of their games. The double play was a friend to both hurlers in the early innings, as the Cougars turned a 6-4-3 twin-killing in the second, while the Falcons got one on a line drive to second with the runner being doubled off.
As was the case last night, the scoreless game went by the wayside in the fourth. The Falcons struck first as Bryan Thomas led off with a single up the middle. That hit quickly became the equivalent of a triple as Thomas stole second and third on consecutive pitches. He then scored as Kyle Hilliard lifted a fly to center, deep enough for the first run of the game.
The Cougars quickly answered in their half of the inning. Joe Silva led off with a solid single to center. He would advance to third on an infield grounder and wild pitch. Mitch Wilson then shot a ground ball past Gibbons. The second baseman was able to backhand the ball behind the bag but with no chance to make a play as Silva crossed the plate.
The game stayed 1-1 into the seventh as both Caballero and Gibbons held their opponents at bay. In the seventh, both teams mounted mild threats that the respective bullpens would come in to extinguish. First, it was the Falcons putting a man on with one out. A grounder advanced him to second but, following an intentional walk, Mike Formella got Kyle Washburn to ground to short for the third out. In the bottom of the inning, a two-out error gave CUC an opportunity, but Andrew Heideman got the third strike to end the inning and keep the game at 1-1 entering the fateful eighth.
The inning began ominously for the Cougars with two soft singles, the first seeing the batter barely beating the throw to first base. A fly to right moved the lead runner to third, and Thomas followed with a fly to center. Off the bat, it appeared as if the ball might go for a sacrifice fly, but the ball carried all the way to the warning track and bounced over the fence for a ground-rule double and a CUW lead. Hilliard was next, and he ripped one to center for a two-run single. All of a sudden, the Cougars trailed 4-1, and their run of 16 straight wins in the NACC tournament, going back to 2013, was in serious jeopardy.
Concordia-Chicago's amazing answer to the Falcons' rally began as Kevin Garvey reached second base on a throwing error. One out later, Bryan VanDuser hit a shot up the middle. The second baseman knocked the ball down, but it rolled into short leftfield as Garvey scored to make it 4-2. A walk to Silva turned up the heat, as the tying run was now on base for Brent Spohr. Heideman got ahead 1-2 in the count, but Spohr went the opposite way by hitting a hard liner toward rightfield. There was a tense moment as the ball appeared it might hang up in the air just long enough for the catch to be made, but Thomas' lunge for the ball came up empty as the ball rolled to the fence. Spohr legged out the hit into a triple as VanDuser and Silva raced around to tie the game. The cheering had barely subsided when Wilson smashed the first pitch he saw between third and short, as pinch-runner Jacob Frank crossed the plate with the go-ahead run.
It was now up to Musielak to deliver the final three outs, and the right-hander was efficient. He needed just 12 pitches to get a grounder to second, a fly to center and a fly to right to put a heart-stopping win in the Cougars' ledger.
The Cougars (28-11) will now await the winner of the 10 a.m. game on Saturday between Concordia Wisconsin and the Milwaukee School of Engineering. That team will play the Cougars at 1:00 p.m., with a Cougar win advancing them to their sixth straight regional and seventh since 2009.