Falcons Split Series Against Stars

MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia Wisconsin baseball team went 1-1 on Saturday versus the Stars of Dominican University.

The first game went to the Stars, as they came away with a 5-2 victory.

In that first game's top of the first inning, the Falcons were able to escape a bases-loaded, one-out situation. With one out, the Stars flew out to CUW senior centerfielder Johannes Haakenson (Janesville, Wis.), who made a strong throw to home, preventing the Dominican sacrifice-fly opportunity. Then, with two outs, senior shortstop Daniel Hahn (Cudahy, Wis.) made a sliding stop up the middle and gunned it over to senior first basemen Tristan Largent (Verona, Wis.), who scooped the ball off the turf, recording the third out of the inning. 

In the bottom of the second inning, sophomore Kyle Flynn (Nashville, Tenn.) hit a solo home run to left center field, giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead after the bottom of the third.

The Stars were able to tie the game at one apiece following a Falcon error in the top of the third inning. 

Concordia Wisconsin retook the lead in the bottom of the third inning when senior Sean Tillmon (Plainfield, Ill.) hit an RBI double to right field, scoring in Johannes Haakenson from second, who reached the base with a single and stolen base. 

Entering the top of the fourth inning, the Falcons led 2-1.

The Falcon's defense stepped again in the bottom of the top of the sixth when right fielder Sean Tillmon gunned down a greedy Dominican baserunner looking to tie the game. Eventually, the Falcons closed that inning with a ground ball to second baseman Josh Aguiniga (Chicago, Ill.). 

In the top of the seventh, Dominican retook the lead, following a two-run home run to deep left-center field, giving them the 3-2 lead. Then in the top of the eighth inning, the Stars extended their lead with two runs, giving them the 5-2 lead after the top of the eighth inning. 

In their half of the eighth and ninth inning, the Falcons were unable to score a run, giving Dominican the 5-2 win in game one. 

On the defensive end, sophomore starting pitcher Zach Slome (Schaumburg, Ill.) had a solid outing with six innings pitched with only one earned run. On the offensive end, the Falcons were led by Sean Tillmon, who had two hits and one RBI, while Kyle Flynn had the other RBI for CUW. 

In the second game, the Falcons struck first in the bottom of the second inning when Kyle Flynn crossed home plate following a walk with the bases loaded, giving sophomore Josh Aguiniga an RBI and the Falcons a 1-0 lead after the bottom of the second inning. 

In the top of the fourth inning, the game was delayed 50 minutes due to lightning.

Action resumed in the top of the fourth inning with two outs. Junior starting pitcher Jack Hribernik (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) threw one pitch to get out of the inning.

In the bottom of the fourth inning, CUW was able to tally three runs. Kyle Flynn led off the inning with a single to center. Freshman Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.) also had a single up the middle. Both Flynn and Miller advanced one base after a passed ball. Next, Tristan Largent was walked, loading the bases to the Falcons with no outs. Josh Aguiniga hit the inning's first run with a single to the left, scoring Flynn. Sophomore catcher Will Sommers (Mount Prospect, Ill.) then reached on base and earned an RBI via a fielder's choice, advancing Largent to third, who eventually scored off a Dominican error. 

Entering the top of the fifth inning, the Falcons held a 4-0 lead. 

The Stars were able to scratch a run of their own in the top of the fifth inning after a home run to left field, cutting the Falcon's lead to 4-1. 

Concordia Wisconsin responded in the bottom of the sixth inning. Matt Miller led off the inning with a single down the right-field line. Then, Tristan Largent got a hold of a pitch and hit a two-run home run to right field, giving him his first home run of the season and extending the Falcon lead to 6-1.  

In the bottom of the seventh inning, the Falcons extended their lead off of Kyle Flynn's second home run of the day, going off the scoreboard and giving CUW the 7-1 lead. 

Runs continued to pour on in the bottom of the eighth inning when Sean Tillmon singled past the shortstop, scoring Will Sommers who reached on base earlier in the inning by a single to the right field, increasing the Falcon lead to 8-1, heading into the top of the ninth.

In Dominican's half of the inning, the Stars were held scoreless by CUW senior pitcher Beau Wills (Coal City, Ill.), earning himself his first save of the season and giving the Falcons the 8-1 lead. Meanwhile, Jack Hribernik picked up the win, improving his record to 2-0 on the year, where he pitched eight complete innings, only allowing one run.  

As for the offensive end, Matt Miller went four-for-four, Kyle Flynn had three hits and one RBI, while Josh Aguiniga and Tristan Largent added two RBIs each.

Following the conference split, the Falcon's record stands at 14-10 overall and 6-4 in the conference. 

The Falcons will have a quick turnaround to resume home conference play on Sunday, April 16th, and host the Sabers of Marian, with the first game of the doubleheader slated to start at noon.