Waverly, Iowa – Looking to build on their strong trip to Florida, the Concordia University Chicago Cougar Baseball team took to the field in two tough non-conference matchups today. The Cougars opened the day taking on the University of St. Thomas. CUC scored five runs between the fourth and sixth innings in route to a 7-1 victory. In game two, the Cougars found themselves in a close fight late, but the pitching combination of Adam Gregory and Mike Formella preserved the 3-2 win in game two. With the two wins, CUC improves to 9-2 overall and have won seven straight.
In game one, the starting pitchers were cruising until the fourth inning. The Cougars broke through first in the top half with two outs. Keegan Tyrell got things started with a single. Kevin Coppin followed with a double to left field scoring Tyrell. When the throw went to the plate, Coppin looked to take third base. The throw from the catcher went wide and Coppin was able to score.
CUC built on their lead in the fifth. After a Bryan VanDuser walk, Joe Silva singled through the left side putting runners at the corners. Andrew Massey then brought home VanDuser with a single through the left side. Coppin then brought home the fourth run of the game by drawing a full count walk with the bases loaded.
The Cougars added another run in the sixth when Silva launched his second homerun of the year, which was a towering shot to dead center field on the first pitch of the at bat.
St. Thomas broke up the CUC shutout in the bottom of the sixth. The Cougars made sure the game was out of reach though with two more runs in the ninth. Silva led off the inning with an infield single. He promptly stole second and was brought home by a Massey double to right center. Two outs later, it was Coppin again with a double that brought home pinch hitter Mateo Calle, which pushed the CUC lead to 7-1.
Keaton Conner got the start on the hill for CUC and picked up his first win of the season. The senior went five and two thirds, allowing just one earned run and four hits while striking out four. Brian Musielak and Alex Meyers combined to work three and a third innings of clean relief to close out the win.
In game two, CUC manufactured a run in their first at bat. Tyrell and Silva led off with back-to-back singles to put runners at the corners. Massey was able to bring home Tyrell with a ground ball to score the opening run.
The score remained the same as both starting pitchers settled in until the fifth inning. Calle led off with a single to right. Calle then stole second and tagged up and motored to third with one away. After a walk put runners on the corners, CUC executed a perfect double steal, with Tyrell sliding in safe at second and Calle stealing home. Massey brought home Tyrell with his team high 15th RBI on a single to center.
Wartburg tightened things with two runs on three hits in the seventh, but Formella was able to escape the trouble with a line out to first. Clinging to the 3-2 lead, CUC added a big insurance run in the ninth, working four straight walks to plate a run.
Gregory picked up his team high fourth win of the season on the mound. Gregory went five and two thirds allowing just three hits while striking out four. Formella picked up his third save of season working the final three and a third, allowing two runs on three hits.
The Cougars (9-2) will close out their weekend trip tomorrow with a single game against the University of St. Thomas. First pitch is set for 12:00pm from Waverly, Iowa.