Carol Stream, Ill. – After moving up to No. 2/4 in the national rankings, the Concordia University Chicago Baseball team took to the field for the first time up north today against the St.Mary's University Cardinals out of Minnesota. With a little dramatic flair, the Cougars pulled off their second straight walkoff victory on a Bryan Van Duser single in the bottom of the ninth.
INSIDE THE BOX SCORE:
- With the win the Cougar win streak stands at nine.
- Brayden Benavides led the way with two hits.
- Adam Gregory got the start and went 4.1 innings and allowed just two earned runs.
- Cole Carman picked up his second win of the season, working the final 4.2 innings. He allowed no runs on two hits and struck out five.
The Cardinals struck first in the top half of inning number one. With two outs and a runner on first a dropped fly ball in right allowed the first run of the day to cross. A second unearned run came across on a single to center.
CUC got one back in the bottom half. Jose Mercado led things off being hit by a pitch. He then stole his 11th base of the year to get into scoring position. An error put runners at the corners with one away for Brody Mariotti. The sophomore delivered a deep fly that bounced over the left field fence for a ground ruled double to pull CUC back within 2-1.
St.Mary's added on a run in the third on two hits. They then made it 4-1 in the top of the fifth with a run on three hits. Carman got CUC out of trouble in the inning by getting back-to-back strikeouts to strand two on.
CUC got a single run back in the bottom of the fifth. With one out Nathan Dewey was hit by a pitch. One out later a passed ball put Dewey in scoring position. He was brought home when Benavides singled to right to pull CUC within 4-2.
The Cougars continued to crawl back with a run in the seventh. Matt Fauth led off the inning by lining a triple down the right field line. One out later Dewey singled to right to make it 4-3 St.Mary's.
CUC completed the comeback in dramatic fashion in the ninth. An error started the inning, allowing Fauth to reach. A sac bunt followed to put the tying run in scoring position with one out. After a strikeout, Mercado lined a double to right center which scored Fauth and tied the score at four. After an intentional walk put runners at first and second, it was Bryan Van Duser who singled through the right side to plate a hustling Mercado from second to pull off the 5-4 comeback win.
The Cougars (9-1) will have a quick turnaround for tomorrow. They will open the day against Concordia College at 11:00am before taking on Wheaton College at 5:00pm.