Schaumburg, Ill. – Looking to continue their 14 game conference winning streak, the No. 1 Concordia Chicago Cougars took to the field at Boomers stadium today for two NACC contests against the Dominican University Stars. The Cougars swept the day, putting 20 runs on the board in the first three innings, including a 14 run second inning in route to a 26-17 game one win. CUC then took game two 16-1 which was prolonged due to two different weather delays. With the wins CUC locked up their spot in the NACC tournament for a ninth consecutive year.
INSDE THE BOX SCORE:
- The 26 runs in game run are the most in a game since May 6, 2016 when CUC put up 28 against Lakeland.
- CUC hit four homers on the day; Jacob Frank (2) Connor Brandon (1) Matt Fauth (1)
- Brandon, Brayden Benavides and Jose Mercado all had five hits on the day.
- Brandon had a series high nine driven in giving him a team high 43 on the year.
- As a team CUC hit .512 in the two games with 20 extra base hits.
- Nick Brummel made his career debut and picked up the win in game one. He worked 2.2 innings of relief and did not allow a run.
- Alex Crinigan picked up his fifth win of the season in game two, working six innings while allowing just one run.
GAME ONE: W, 26-17
CUC started the big offensive day in the first. Mercado led the game off with a double to left center and was brought around to score on a Bryan VanDuser single to center. With two on Brandon tripled to right center to make it 3-0 CUC. Keegan Tyrell then made it 4-0 by driving a 1-1 pitch into center.
The Cougars put together an unforgettable inning in the second. The Cougars brought 19 batters to the plate in the inning and scored 14 runs. All nine CUC starters recorded hits sin the inning. Singles opened the inning for CUC. VanDuser then doubled down the left field line to make it 6-0. An RBI single by Brody Mariotti then made it 7-0. Two batters later Mateo Calle singled to right scoring two. After a Dominican pitching change Justin Rodriguez singled through the left side to make it 10-0. Fauth then got in the action with a three run homer to left center, his third of the season. A walk sandwiched two doubles which made it 14-0. Brandon continued the fun for CUC with a double down the third base line scoring two. RBI singles by Tyrell and Calle closed out the inning as CUC expanded their lead to 18-0.
CUC added two more on in the third. A sac fly by Gianfranco Sorrentino made it 19-0 and a wild pitch allowed Benavides to score and make it 20-0.
Dominican continued to hang around though. They plated six runs in the third to make it 20-6. CUC got a run back in the fourth on a sac fly. The Stars then got within 21-10 in the fourth with four runs on just one hit.
CUC got two back in the fifth. Jacob Frank doubled home a run and an Adam Lackey single to center made it 23-10. CUC then made it 25-10 on a two RBI single by Alex Kinert.
Dominican extended the game with a six run seventh. CUC got a single run back in the eighth on a Frank homer to left. CUC then worked through the final two innings to close out the 26-17 victory.
GAME TWO: W, 16-1
CUC kept the offense going in game two. Mercado led off the inning with a single and scored one batter later. With the bases loaded Brandon doubled to left center to make it 3-0 CUC. The Cougars added one more in the inning to take a 4-0 lead.
The Cougars added another run in the second on an RBI single to right by Benavides. CUC blew the game wide open in the fourth. With two on Benavides doubled down the third base line to make it 7-0. VanDuser followed with a double of his own to make it 8-0. One batter later a Brandon single brought home another run. Tyrell then made it 10-0 with a double to right. A sac fly then made it 11-0 and a Fauth single to left finished the scoring making it 12-0.
CUC continued to add on in the fifth. With two on Brandon hooked a homer off the foul pole in left field to make it 15-0.
Crinigan gave way to Anthony Rogers on the hill to close out the 16-1 game two win.
The Cougars will be back in action tomorrow afternoon in River Forest. They will take on North Park University in non-conference action starting at 3:00pm.