Baseball puts it all together for sweep over No. 11 UW-Whitewater

MEQUON, Wis. – The Concordia University Wisconsin Baseball team knew it would need to play well in every facet of the game to pull off wins over a nationally ranked opponent Wednesday. The Falcons did just that, sweeping No. 11 UW-Whitewater at Kapco Park. Strong pitching, good fielding and timely hitting allowed CUW to take down the Warhawks, 8-0 and 4-3.

THE BASICS
- Final Scores: Concordia Wisconsin 8, UW-Whitewater 0 (Game 1); Concordia Wisconsin 4, UW-Whitewater 3 (Game 2)
- Location: Kapco Park – Mequon, Wis.
- Records: Concordia Wisconsin 20-17; UW-Whitewater 22-11

GAME ONE HIGHLIGHTS
- Junior Dylan Gausman (Eagan, Minn.) turned in a four-hit complete game shutout for the Falcons in the opener. Gausman had it working, striking out four while issuing a couple of walks. He has now delivered a complete game shutout in each of his last two home starts.

- The Falcons went up in the bottom of the second on a two-RBI double from senior Nate Van Ells (Greendale, Wis.). CUW would then extend the lead with a run in the fourth, three in the fifth and one each in the sixth and eighth for the 8-0 win.

- The Falcons got multi-hit performances from five players in the 15-hit outburst in the opener. Among those was sophomore Nathan Thyssen (Appleton, Wis.), who paced the team with three. Each of the first four batters had two hits with sophomores Dan Ranieri (Loves Park, Ill.) and Kyle Hilliard (Oak Forest, Ill.), along with junior Mitchell Dubnicka (Hartland, Wis.) collecting two. Junior Matt Schubert (West Bend, Wis.) also tallied two hits.

- Hilliard drove in two for the Falcons, along with Van Ells, while sophomore Anthony Lombardi (Kildeer, Ill.) had an RBI triple in the fourth. Junior Isaac Tewes (Chaska, Minn.) also drove in a run and all nine players in the Falcons order picked up at least one hit. Ranieri finished the game with two doubles, while junior Bryan Thomas (Lowell, Ind.) scored a run.

- CUW faced off against one of the Warhawks top pitchers in Curtis Morgan in the opener. He allowed six runs, four earned in five innings of work, while striking out a pair.

GAME TWO HIGHLIGHTS
- This time it was senior Tyler Gross (Wauwatosa, Wis.) who delivered the gem, throwing seven innings. Gross allowed two runs with three strikeouts and just one walk for his third win of the season. Sophomore Joey Schuman (New Lenox, Ill.) picked up the save with two strong innings allowing one unearned run.

- With the Falcons leading 4-2 in the ninth, Schuman allowed a leadoff single and hit the next batter. He would strike out a pinch hitter, before the Warhakws executed a double steal with the throw to third sailing into left field, allowing Alex Hallenbeck to score and cut the Falcons lead to one. With the go-ahead run on second, Schuman struck out the final two batters to preserve the sweep for CUW.

- Dubnicka paced the offense with a double, triple, RBI and a run scored. Lombardi added two hits, while Thyssen also drove in a run.

- The Falcons were able to take advantage of three Warhawks errors in the sixth inning, allowing two unearned runs to score. Those unearned runs would give Lake Bachar the loss, with Bachar striking out eight in six innings of work.

UP NEXT
- The Falcons will look to build off of Wednesday's sweep with the final two NACC games of the season slated for Saturday. CUW hosts Edgewood in a twinbill, first pitch set for noon. It will also be Senior Day at Kapco Park.