Falcons Hand No. 12 Benedictine First Conference Loss in Doubleheader

MEQUON, Wis. – Saturday saw the Falcons split a doubleheader against the No. 12 Eagles of Benedictine University as CUW took game one with a score of 4-2, while Benedictine took round two, 10-0.

The win over the nationally ranked-team marks the first victory over such a school since April 20, 2018, when the Falcons took down the No. 8 Cougars of Concordia Chicago, with a final score of 11-10. 

The first contest saw CUW strike first in the bottom of the first as senior Jack Owens (Chicago, Ill.) drew a walk and stole second. 

Owens continued to use his speed in the next at-bat as senior Cole Aguirre (Chino Hills, Calif.) brought in Owens to give CUW the 1-0 lead. 

After a 1-2-3 inning behind the pitching of junior Zach Slome (Schaumburg, Ill.), the Falcons tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the second, as sophomore Tyler Murray (Kankakee, Ill.) batted in junior Kyle Flynn (Nashville, Tenn.) who was the first base runner on the inning after drawing a walk and stealing second base.

Later in the inning, with Murray on second, Jack Owens singled into the left-center gap to cross Murray to score the second run, boosting the Falcons to a 3-0 advantage.

The Falcon's defense continued to shine in the third and fourth innings, as the Eagles were held scoreless as Zach Slome continued to hum on the mound. 

Benedictine would attempt to make a comeback in the top of the fifth, scratching two runs on three hits to trim the Blue and White's lead to 3-2. 

But the bottom half of the fifth saw junior Byrnden Cleveland (Crestwood, Ill.) lift a ball opposite field down the right field line to score Owens, who had doubled down the left field line earlier in the inning to reestablish CUW's two-run lead at 4-2. 

Meanwhile, Zach Slome retired seven straight to secure the second straight complete game shut out to help CUW improve to 9-9 overall and 4-1 in NACC play, while also handing Benedictine their first loss. 

Jack Owens led the way in game one, having a game-high two hits while contributing an RBI.

Meanwhile, Zach Slome improved to 3-1 on the season and struck out three batters while facing 28 batters on 106 pitches. 

But the Benedictine offense would pick up in game two of the doubleheader and score two runs in back-to-back innings, capped off by a big fourth inning, which saw the Eagles tack on four runs behind a costly error from CUW.

After the fifth inning, the Eagles built a 10-0 lead and were able to keep the Falcons scoreless for the remainder of the contest, securing the win and splitting the series. 

The Concordia Wisconsin baseball team will return to the diamond on Tuesday, Arpil 2^nd to take on the Warriors of Wisconsin Lutheran.