Falcons Conclude Weekend Action

JACKSONVILLE, Ill. – The Falcons fell twice to the formidable opponent of Illinois College to drop to 3-7 on the year.  

Game one of the CUW-Illinois College doubleheader featured 44 runs combined. 

Illinois College jumped to a quick 11-0 lead after the first two innings. 

But CUW would mount an epic response in the top of the third to square the score at 11-11. 

Senior Sterling Armstrong (Lake Barrington, Ill.) led off the inning with a single to right center. In the next at-bat, freshman Jordan Vazquez (Chicago, Ill.) smashed a ball deep to center field for his first collegiate home run, giving CUW its first two runs of the contest. 

With the bases loaded, CUW would scratch one run with an RBI single from sophomore Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.) to center field. 

Senior Cole Aguirre (Chino Hills, Calif.) continued the chain of hits as he singled to right field in the subsequent at-bat to score another Falcon and bring the score to 11-4 in Illinois College's favor. 

With the bases continuing to be loaded, Sterling Armstrong was hit by a pitch to bring another CUW run.

In the next at-bat, CUW scored another via a wild pitch from Illinois College. 

After another walk, the bases were juiced once again for the Blue and White, and again, they drew a walk as senior Jack Owens recorded an RBI on the play. 

With two outs, senior Jimmy Juergensen (Cedarburg, Wis.) put the finishing touches on the inning as he blasted a grand slam deep to right field for his first home run of the season to tie the game at 11-11. 

Freshman Alex Kuntz (Richfield, Wis.) then silenced Illinois College's offense in the bottom of the third, striking out all three batters. 

But the Blueboys of Illinois College would retake the lead in the fourth, scoring two runs to make it 13-11 in their favor. 

The scoring frenzy persisted in the top of the fifth inning, as Concordia Wisconsin scored six runs on four hits. 

With runners on first and second, Jack Owens singled to right center, bringing in one run. Jimmy Juergensen added another run directly after with a sacrifice fly to center field to tie the game at 13-13. 

Matt Miller continued his solid day at the plate as he singled to center field to score Jack Owens and give the Falcons the 14-13 lead. 

Runs continued to pour in the top of the fifth, as Cole Aguirre also singled to center field to bring junior Brynden Cleveland (Crestwood, Ill.) home. 

CUW expanded on its lead as junior Owen Burns (Morris, Ill.) found a gap in left field and doubled to bring home Aguirre and Miller, giving the Falcons a four-run lead. 

But in the bottom half of the inning, Illinois College charged back to take the lead, 18-17.

As the game rolled into the top of the sixth inning, neither team showed any quit, as CUW, courtesy of another sacrifice fly from Jimmy Juergensen, locked the score at 18-18. 

On cue, however, was Illinois College, which led after six innings, 21-18, after scoring three runs in the bottom of the sixth. The Blueboys would also add five runs in the bottom of the seventh to hold on to the 26-18 victory in the first round of the doubleheader. 

In the effort, Jimmy Juergensen had a season-high six RBIs, while Jack Owens, Matt Miller, Cole Aguirre, Owen Burns, and Jordan Vazquez all had two RBIs. 

Defensively, Alex Kuntz went two innings and struck out six batters. Junior Holter Gette (Batavia, Ill.) also went two complete innings, striking out one batter, only conceding two hits and recording zero earned runs. 

CUW quickly shifted to game two of their series against the Blueboys. 

Illinois College struck first, scoring the first run of the game in the bottom of the first. 

The Blueboys continued to increase their lead and, after the fourth inning, led 13-0. 

Concordia Wisconsin's first run of the game came in the top of the fifth as Jordan Vazquez singled to left field to bring in Matt Miller and Cole Aguirre, who hit a double in the at-bat before. 

Freshman Connor Lasch (Chicago, Ill.) continued CUW's solid inning at the plate, as he doubled to center field to score Vazquez from second.

But Illinois College responded with a run of its own at the bottom of the fifth and two in the bottom of the sixth to secure the 16-3 victory.

Cole Aguirre had a team-high two RBIs in the second game, along with a double. Meanwhile, freshman Hayden Reich (Sussex, Wis.) and Connor Lasch recorded extra-base hits. 

Sophomore Zach Slome (Schaumburg, Ill.) went three innings and recorded four strikeouts, while sophomore David Russ (Round Lake, Ill.) went 1.1 innings in his first appearance of the season. 

The CUW baseball squad will regroup before returning to the diamond on Wednesday, March 20^th for another nonconference doubleheader at Kapco Park as they host the Saints of St. Scholastica with the first pitch slated for 1:00 p.m.