Scarlet Hawks Test Falcons in Chicago

CHICAGO - The Concordia Wisconsin baseball team took a pair of losses on Saturday afternoon to the Illinois Tech Scarlet Hawks, who sit tied atop the NACC standings. The first outing of the doubleheader saw the Scarlet Hawks take a close 4-1 victory, while they would go on to take the second by a 16-6 score.

In the opening game, Matthew Bove broke the scoreless tie in the bottom of the third inning for Illinois Tech, launching a solo home run over the right field fence. Senior Jimmy Juergenson (Cedarburg, Wis.) responded quickly for the Falcons, sending freshman Jordan Vasquez (Chicago, Ill.) across the plate via double to center field. The play represented his 16th RBI of the 2024 season, which sits in fourth place on the team leaderboard.

The Scarlet Hawks went on to reclaim the lead in the following half-inning by way of another home run. Illinois Tech would double its score in the following inning after Michael Paxson cast a two-run home run to center field.

Across the following two innings, the Falcons collected a total of four baserunners in an attempt to spark a comeback. However, the Scarlet Hawks were able to shut down the threat, taking the opening contest of the afternoon, 4-1.

Junior Zach Slome (Schaumburg, Ill.) tossed all six innings on the mound for Concordia, striking out four batters in the process.

The second game of the day saw the Falcons strike first on the scoreboard. Senior Sterling Armstrong (Lake Barrington, Ill.) launched a two-base line drive to left-center field, which allowed sophomore Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.) to score the game's opening run.

Illinois Tech countered the run in the following half-inning before scoring nine runs in the third to take a comfortable 10-1 advantage. The fifth inning witnessed five additional Scarlet Hawks runs to further pad the lead.

Concordia assembled a strong sixth inning, plating four runs. Armstrong picked up his second RBI of the contest with a single to open the stretch before Miller scored for a second time on a wild pitch during the ensuing at-bat. Seniors Cody Maier (Mandan, N.D.) and Jack Owens (Chicago, Ill.) batted in the remaining scores off of a double and single, respectively, which left the Falcons at five total runs.

The Falcons managed to pick up another run in the seventh inning by way of an error after Miller sent a ground ball skipping to the left side of the infield.

Illinois Tech secured three outs in the at-bats that followed to conclude the game, which ended with a 16-6 reading on the scoreboard.

Concordia will look to get back into the win column in its next series of games against the 18-10 MSOE Raiders on April 24.