March 5, 2017 - The Concordia-Chicago baseball team began their second road trip of the early season today, playing the Bulldogs of DeSales University from Pennsylvania at the Chain of Lakes Park in Winter Haven, FL. The Cougars needed a few innings to get going, perhaps owing to the 9 a.m. start, but productive sixth and seventh innings put CUC in control as they defeated DeSales by a final score of 9-6.

DeSales opened the scoring in the bottom of the first. With one out, back-to-back singles put runners on the corners against Cody Caballero. Cleanup hitter Mike Kacergis then battled Caballero through an 11-pitch at-bat before lining the ball to centerfielder Brendan Klein for a sacrifice fly nd a 1-0 lead.

The Cougars came back with two nicely executed runs in the third. Klein led off with a bouncing single up the middle, and Bryan VanDuser followed with a double down the leftfield line to send Klein to third. Joe Silva's grounder to second scored Klein and moved VanDuser to third, and Andrew Massey's fly to right scored VanDuser for the 2-1 lead. "The top of the order is doing very well in setting the table for the middle of the lineup," said CUC head coach Mike Stawski. "It's nice to see them do the things necessary that lead to scoring runs, even if it's not through a base hit."

The Bulldogs responded in their half of the third, starting trouble with two out and nobody on base. Preston Amato singled and came home on Tyler Sweeney's double to left. Sweeney then scored on Kacergis' second RBI in as many at-bats, a line single to left. DeSales then added a run in the fourth on a single, sacrifice and single by Danny Licamara. The Bulldogs threatened to get more runs, but catcher Kevin Coppin gunned down a runner trying to steal third, and CUC was able to escape the inning trailing just 4-2.

Concordia's bats finally erupted in the sixth. After one out, Massey hit a hot shot which the third baseman could not backhand. Brent Spohr then stepped to the plate and launched a 1-1 pitch to left. The wind was unable to hold in in, and Spohr had his second homer of the season, a two-run blast to tie the game at 4-4. The Cougars were not done, however. Two pitches later, Mitch Wilson roped one over the first baseman's head for a double. Justin Rodriguez followed with a sharp single to left and, when the ball got by the fielder, Wilson came around to score the go-ahead run while Rodriguez advanced to second. DeSales' starter Andrew Schueler got the fly to left for the second out but, with Coppin on deck, the Bulldogs' manager opted for a southpaw from the bullpen to get the lefty-lefty matchup. That strategy backfired, however, when Coppin grounded a single into left to score pinch-runner Joey Anderson for a fourth run in the inning and a 6-4 lead. 

Mike Formella, who had entered the game in the fifth, posted a second scoreless inning in the home half of the sixth before the Cougars came up with another multi-run inning in the seventh. The Cougars would have some help this time as the Bulldogs made two crucial errors behind their relievers. VanDuser led off with his second double of the day and was sacrificed to third by Silva. Massey then hit a  shot at the shortstop, who was unable to handle it, and the Cougars were in business. After a walk to Spohr, Wilson laced the first pitch into centerfield (nearly taking the pitcher with him). Wilson's hit scored pinch-runner Aaron Wicker for a 7-4 lead. Anderson then grounded a ball to short, but everyone was safe on the second error of the inning. That would allow a third run in the frame, as Doug Matthews lifted a sacrifice fly to center to score Spohr for a 9-4 lead.

The Bulldogs scraped a run off Formella in the seventh, but the sophomore right-hander got two pop-ups to end the inning, finishing a welcome three-inning stint in which he allowed just the one run on four hits. Alex Meyers came out for the eighth but, after striking out the leadoff batter, fell into a jam on a walk, single and double. Head coach Mike Stawski then summoned Brian Musielak with the tying run at the plate. Musielak did a masterful job, getting a pop to short and a lazy fly to center to leave the Bulldogs trailing 9-6. Musielak then retired DeSales 1-2-3 in the ninth to finish off his second save and the Cougars' third win of the year.

Formella is now 2-0 on the season, earning both wins in a long relief role. "Mike is a good fit for that role, and it's important to be able to do what he did today," said Stawski. "We figure that we want to win the sixth through ninth innings, and he can put us int a position to do that if our starters can't go deep in a game." Stawski also lauded the efforts of his closer Musielak. After getting the two crucial final outs in the eighth, Stawski related, "I turned to (assistant coach) Kolin Conner and said, 'who else is going to get those outs in that situation?' Brian has a great mindset for that situation; he can handle pressure extremely well."

The Cougars are now winners of three in a row after starting 0-2. They will go for number four on Monday afternoon at 3:00 (EST) when they play Rhodes College of Tennessee at Lake Myrtle Park in Auburndale, FL.