Concordia Handles Carleton

TUCSON, Ariz. –  The Concordia Wisconsin baseball team beat Carleton College twice in their St. Patrick's Day doubleheader and extended their winning streak to seven games. 

The Falcons won the first game 9-1. 

Senior Sean Tillmon (Plainfield, Ill.) gave the Falcons an early 1-0 lead in the top of the first inning with a solo home run. 

Carleton was able to respond in their half of the inning, tying the game 1-1 entering the top of the second inning. 

From that point on, it was all Falcons. Senior Dillan Fike (Oak Lawn, Ill.) had an RBI single scoring freshman Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.), who singled earlier in the inning and advanced to second on a passed ball, giving the Falcons a 2-1 lead after the top of the second. 

In the top of the third, CUW tacked on two more runs courtesy of an RBI triple from Sean Tillmon, scoring fellow senior Daniel Hahn (Cudahy, Wis.) and an RBI groundout to the right side of the field from junior Jimmy Juergensen (Cedarburg, Wis). The Falcons led 4-1, entering the bottom of the third. 

Concordia added their lead in the fourth inning on a pair of throwing errors. Senior Tristan Largent (Verona, Wis.) led off the inning with a double. Largent scored after Dillan Fike caused a throwing error. Fike hit a single, and as the ball was at third base, advanced towards second, causing a wild throw from a Carleton Knight, bringing in Largent to score. Later in the inning, Fike scored as senior Cole Aguirre (Chino Hills, Calif.) stole second base and caused another wild throw from Carleton's catcher. 

The Falcons added to lead their lead in the sixth inning courtesy of a Daniel Hahn RBI single, scoring senior Johannes Haakenson (Janesville, Wis.), who doubled earlier in the inning. Sean Tillmon hit an RBI double in the next at-bat, scoring Hahn. Then, Jimmy Juergensen hit an RBI single, scoring the Tillmon, giving the Falcons a 9-1 lead.

After six innings, sophomore starting pitcher Zach Slome (Schaumburg, Ill.) was subbed out and replaced by fellow sophomore Owen Burns (Morris, Ill.), who closed out the game, striking out one batter, giving the Falcons a 9-1 victory.

In his six innings, Zach Slome recorded the win with five strikeouts, one earned run, and no walks. Meanwhile, Sean Tillmon led the Falcons on the offensive end with three RBIs and three hits. In addition, Daniel Hahn had two hits and one RBI, Jimmy Juergensen had one hit and 2 RBIs, while Dillan Fike had two hits and one RBI.

In game two of their doubleheader, CUW came away with the 19-2 win.

The Falcons jumped the Knights early, scoring seven runs in the bottom of the first inning. Johannes Haakenson and Daniel Hahn were both walked to start the game. Then, Sean Tillmon hit an RBI single, scoring Haakenson, while a passed ball scored Hahn. Next, Jimmy Juergensen added a run with an RBI single. Sophomore Kyle Flynn (Nashville, Tenn.) also added an RBI on a single. Another Falcon run scored on a throwing error from Carleton when they tried to catch Flynn stealing; the wild throw ended up in center, scoring Matt Miller from third, who reached base after hitting a single. 

Kyle Flynn then scored after another Carleton wild pitch. With the bases cleared, senior Brandon Niedfeldt (Roscoe, Ill.) singled, followed by a single from Johannes Haakenson. With runners on first and third base, Haakenson stole second base causing a throwing wild throw, scoring Niedfeldt. 

After the bottom of the first inning, the Falcons led 7-0.

In the second inning, the Falcons tallied seven more runs courtesy of a Jimmy Juergensen RBI single, scoring Tillmon. Kyle Flynn added two more RBIs with a double, scoring Juergensen and Miller. Brandon Niedfeldt added two more runs to the Falcon's total on an RBI double, scoring sophomore catcher Will Sommers (Mount Prospect, Ill.), who reached base on a single earlier in the innings. Brandon Niedfeldt added another run for CUW with an RBI double. The last two runs of the inning were scored by a Johannes Haakenson RBI ground out and an RBI single from Sean Tillmon.

After two innings, the Falcons had a 14-0 lead.

Concordia added one more run in the third inning when Johannes Haakenson hit an RBI single, scoring Will Sommers. 

The blue and white were able to add one run in the fourth inning. Freshman Owen Drummond (West Dundee, Ill.) hit an RBI groundout scoring Jimmy Juergensen who doubled earlier in the inning. 

Carleton was able to add two runs in the top of the sixth, cutting CUW's lead to 16-2. 

In the top of the sixth, the Falcons responded with three runs of their own following a Sterling Armstrong RBI double, scoring Sean Tillmon, who had a triple to open the inning. Senior Cody Maier (Manda, N.D.) had an RBI groundout, and Owen Drummond had a sacrifice fly RBI. 

Junior Michael Machamer (Lake Zurich, Ill.) closed the game with a 1-2-3 inning.

Junior starting pitcher Jack Hribernik (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) recorded his first win of the season, pitching five innings, only allowing two hits and giving up zero earned runs. 

On the offensive end, Concordia had multiple players with multiple runs and RBIs. Sean Tillmon had four hits and 2 RBIs, Kyle Flynn had two hits and three RBIs, and Jimmy Juergensen had three hits and 2 RBIs.

With the two wins, the Falcons improve to 7-4 on the season. 

The Falcons will turn their focus to Macalester College, a team they played two days ago. That game will take place on Saturday, March 18th, in Tucson, Arizona.