May 13, 2018 – The Concordia-Chicago Cougars awoke this morning facing the prospect of three games at the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament in order to win a sixth consecutive crown and the automatic bid to the NCAA III regionals. Sunday's first obstacle was the Raiders from the Milwaukee School of Engineering, but the Cougars summoned their running game and made quick work of MSOE, taking a 13-3 win in eight innings and advancing to the championship round. The win was also the 100th at CUC for third-year head coach Mike Stawski, who currently has a career record of 100-37.

Starting pitchers Adam Schmitt and Brad Demkovich had their "A material" early, economizing pitches and getting several ground balls. Each team turned a double play in the second inning, but the Cougars still managed to push a run across. With two out and Brady Roberts on first, Kevin Coppin was hit by a pitch. Connor Brandon then hit a 1-2 pitch back up the middle, with Roberts racing around third to score the game's first run.

The Cougars turned it up a couple of notches in the third. Mercado led off by drawing a walk, spelling the end for Demkovich who had pitched 5 2/3 innings on Thursday. The MSOE reliever was unable to keep the Cougars close to their bases, with Mercado stealing both second and third, and VanDuser being hit by a pitch and then promptly swiping second. Joe Silva singled to right, scoring both runners, and he then joined in the running game with a steal of second. Andrew Massey shot one through the right side for an RBI and a 4-0 lead. The onslaught continued as a two-out error enabled CUC to tack on five more runs. Keegan Tyrell singled in a pair, and a wild pitch soon made it 7-0. The Cougars' running game then wrapped up the inning in fast fashion as, with runners on the corners, Mercado took off for second. The throw to second sailed into the outfield, allowing Tyrell to score. When the outfielder misplayed the ball, Mercado did not hesitate, coming all the way around to score and capping an eight-run inning.

Following CUC's big explosion, Schmitt had an easy path to his third win of the season. The Raiders touched him for a run in the fourth and two runs in the sixth, but the Cougars countered with single runs in the fifth and sixth, the latter scoring on Coppin's RBI single. Schmitt exited the game with an 11-3 lead after seven, having allowed six hits, one walk and two strikeouts over 86 pitches. Freshman James Grassl pitched a quick 1-2-3 eighth, and the Cougars then walked it off on the 10-run rule in the bottom of the inning. Grant Davis singled home a run, and Brandon's sacrifice fly to right tallied pinch-runner Aaron Wicker with the final run.

The tournament is now down to CUC and Aurora, with the Cougars needing to defeat the Spartans twice while Aurora needs just one win. If the Cougars force an extra game, it will begin 30 minutes after the finish of the first one.