Millington, Tenn. — The Concordia University Chicago baseball team got into the win column on Saturday with a 5-3 win over Fontbonne University. The Cougars received contributions from everyone in the lineup, while also shining on the mound on their way to their first victory of 2022. 

Inside the Box Score

• Every Cougar in the starting lineup recorded a hit on the afternoon. 
• On the mound, the team issued just three walks while striking out nine. 
• Junior Westin Stutzman (Goshen, Ind.) shut the door on the Griffins with a six-out save, the first of his college career. 
• Michael Kasik (Chandler, Ariz.) was fantastic in his college debut, allowing just two earned over four innings on his way to the win. The freshman struck out three and issued only one free pass. 
• Fifth-year senior Brody Mariotti (Yorktown, Ind.) drove in two runs for the second time in as many days. 

It was the Griffins who struck first with a two-out RBI hit in the bottom of the first. This came after the Cougars had three batters reach base in the top half via a walk and two hit batters but were unable to capitalize. 

They struck back quickly, however, taking a 2-1 lead in the top of the third. After senior Howie Hatton (North Riverside, Ill.) reached on an error, fellow senior Nathan Dewey (Geneva, Ill.) poked a single through the right side of the infield to put two runners on with nobody out. Two batters later, Mariotti delivered a single to center to tie things at one. 

Senior Michael Zavoli (Santa Clara, Utah) had the second RBI of the inning on a single to right, giving CUC its first lead of the 2022 season. 

Fontbonne evened things in the fourth after a wild pitch allowed their runner to move from second to third and later score on a sac-fly, but the Cougars once again had a quick answer. 

Mariotti led off the fifth with his second single of the day. After a fielder's choice and a walk by senior Matthew Uba (Darien, Ill.), junior Caleb Anderson (Plainfield, Ill.) came through with a sharp single to center to put the team back in front. Fellow junior Christian Jacob (Scottsdale, Ariz.) kept the train moving the following at-bat with an RBI single of his own. 

The Griffins got one of the runs back on another sac-fly in the top half of the sixth, but it was the last time they'd score all afternoon. Dewey led off the sixth with a walk and proceeded to steal second and advance to third on a passed ball. Mariotti once again delivered two batters later with a sac-fly, making it a 5-3 game. 

From that point on, the Cougars bullpen kept the Fontbonne bats in check. Kasik was outstanding in his final two innings of work, sending the Griffins down in order in both innings. His strikeout to end the seventh put an exclamation point on his memorable CUC debut. 

Stutzman picked up right where Kasik left off with a 1-2-3 eight inning. He allowed back-to-back singles to open up the ninth, but a line drive double play, and a fly out put any hopes of a Fontbonne rally to rest. The Cougars evened their record on the weekend and on the season. 

They'll finish up their weekend in Tennessee on Sunday morning against Piedmont University. First pitch is scheduled for 10:30 a.m., and coverage can be found at cucougars.com/coverage.