May 14, 2016 -Through the first two games of the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference tournament, the Concordia-Chicago Cougars have relied on an old baseball axiom - if the other team cannot score, the chances of victory for your team are very favorable. Following up on a complete-game shutout by Mike Formella (Homer Glen, IL/Lockport Township) on Thursday night, Eric Palmer (Melrose Park, IL/West Leyden) and Brian Musielak (Chicago, IL/Brother Rice) teamed up for a seven-hit shutout this morning as the Cougars defeated the Aurora University Spartans 2-0 at Kapco Park in Mequon, WI.

The Cougar pitchers did not have it easy, as Aurora put a runner on base in every inning except the seventh. A single with one out in the first was erased in a 6-4-3 double play, and a leadoff hit batsman in the second was followed by two fly balls and a comebacker to the mound. But it was in the bottom of the third that Palmer faced his greatest challenge. After the first two men went out, a single by Jeffrey Mayes and walks to Jeff Woods and Dillon Popovich loaded the bases for cleanup hitter Adam Lipscomb.

"Eric is all about composure on the field, but that was still a tough moment in the game with everything going on," said CUC head coach Mike Stawski. "But he was able to rely on that composure, his experience as a senior, and he told himself that there was no way that they were going to score." Indeed, Palmer's 1-1 pitch to Lipscomb was popped up behind home plate and was caught by catcher Kevin Coppin (Lisle, IL/H.S.) to end one of Aurora's two biggest scoring threats of the day.

The Cougars capitalized on that crucial moment by scoring their two runs in the top of the fourth. With one out, Grant Davis (Morris, IL/Morris Community H.S.) walked on four pitches. Coppin then worked a full count before hitting a slow chopper to short; Coppin was out at first but Davis advanced to second. Andrew Kroncke (St. Charles, IL/St. Charles North) then walked on four pitches and, after both runners moved up on a wild pitch, it was Colin Bethran (Schaumburg, IL/H.S.) who delivered the big hit of the day. Bethran fell behind but battled back to a full count before grounding one through the hole between first and second. Davis and Kroncke both tallied on the play to give Palmer the 2-0 lead.

Palmer and Stockman were the story over the next several innings. The Spartans put runners aboard via hits in the fourth, fifth and sixth innings, but Palmer kept Aurora from extending any rallies by keeping the ball down; all of Aurora's outs in the middle innings except for one fly ball were either infield grounders or strikeouts. Meanwhile, AU's Stockman kept his team in the game, retiring seven in a row after a fifth-inning single by Andrew Massey (Chicago, IL/St. Rita).

The eighth inning ended with Palmer providing the defensive play of the game, gloving Cole Davis' smash up the middle behind his back and throwing to first for the out. Palmer's last pitch was number 131 on the day, so Musielak got the call for the bottom of the ninth. Nick Turner began the ninth with a four-pitch walk, and pinch-hitter Michael Cherven gave the Spartans' fans hope when he rifled a single to leftfield. But Musielak regrouped, getting Cale Sparks to ground into a force play at second. Ryan Rybakowski then tapped back to the mound for the second out, Sparks moving into scoring position on the play. Musielak then got ahead of Mayes 1-2 before Mayes hit a fly ball the other way down the rightfield line. Joe Silva (Arlington Heights, IL/Hersey) saw the ball right off the bat and did a nice job of running it down and catching it in stride for the final out.

Palmer improved to 6-0 on the season while lowering his ERA to 1.48. He allowed six hits while striking out six and walking two. Musielak earned save number five on the year to go with his 5-0 record and 1.16 ERA.

The Cougars (31-11) will now wait for the winner of the Aurora/MSOE game. The winner of that game would have to defeat CUC twice to win the tournament while the Cougars need win just one.