Baseball Continues NACC Tournament Run With Win Over Illinois Tech

LISLE, Ill. - The Concordia University Wisconsin baseball continued its run in the Northern Athletic Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament with a 5-1 win over the Scarlet Hawks of Illinois Tech, a team the Falcons fell to twice in the regular season. 

Both defenses set the tone early in the game, as neither team could find the barrel. The Blue and White, behind the pitching of sophomore Tyler Bartczak (Crestwood, Ill.), held the Scarlet Hawks to just one hit through three innings of play, keeping the contest scoreless. 

CUW broke the seal at the top of the fourth as Cole Aguirre lifted a ball deep to the right field for a solo home run and CUW's first hit of the night, giving the Falcons a 1-0 lead.

Meanwhile, the bottom of the fourth saw Bartczak strike out the side to maintain their one-run advantage.

The Falcons added to their lead at the top of the fifth, as junior Kyle Flynn (Nashville, Tenn.) singled early in the inning before reaching second after a failed pick-off attempt. 

With Flynn on second, senior Sterling Armstrong (Lake Barrington, Ill.) found the outfield with a hard-hit ball for a stand-up double as Flynn trotted across home plate. 

On the defensive end, Tyler Bartczak continued to dice the IIT batters, recording the 1-2-3 inning with two strikeouts. Concordia Wisconsin held a 2-0 lead heading into the top of the sixth. 

The Falcons' bats remained hot in the top of the sixth as they tacked on three runs to secure a 5-0 lead.

After drawing a walk to lead off the inning and reaching second on a hit from Kyle Flynn, senior Jimmy Juergen (Cedarburg, Wis.) showed off his wheels and scored from second after a single from freshman Connor Lasch (Chicago, Ill.). 

Meanwhile, the second and third runs of the inning came off the swing from senior Cody Maier (Mandan, N.D.) down the left field line, scoring both base runners as CUW established the 5-0 lead.

Once again, CUW's defense went three up and three down in the bottom of the sixth.

In the next inning, with one out and bases loaded, junior Chris Rooney (Mundelein, Ill.) got the Falcons out of a jam and recorded two straight outs, while the Scarlet Hawks got one run back, as the score now sat at 5-1 in CUW's favor. 

The score remained 5-1 heading into the bottom of the ninth as Rooney returned to the mound. He wasted no time securing the win for the Blue and White, recording his first save of the year.

Cole Aguirre and Kyle Flynn had two hits in the effort, while Cody Maier had the lone multi-RBI performance. 

Meanwhile, Tyler Bartczak improved to 3-2 on the season with his 6.1 innings pitched as he held Illinois Tech to two hits and one earned run while posting a career-high 10 strikeouts.

Chris Rooney shoved 2.2 innings and had two strikeouts with zero earned runs. 

With the win, the Falcons will face the Raiders of MSOE, with the first pitch slated for 1:00 p.m.