Falcons Fall to Cougars

RIVER ROFEST, Ill. – On Tuesday, the Concordia Wisconsin baseball team traveled to Illinois to finish the season series versus the Cougars of Concordia Chicago. 

The Cougars struck first and took the early 1-0 lead in the bottom of the second inning after hitting a two-out RBI triple. 

In the top of the third inning, the Falcons loaded the bases on three consecutive walks but could not capitalize, leaving three stranded.

Concordia Chicago extended their lead in the bottom of the third inning with an RBI sacrifice fly and a two-run home run to left field. Heading into the top of the fourth inning, the Cougars enjoyed a 4-0 lead. 

To start the bottom of the fourth inning, junior Jimmy Juergensen (Cedarburg, Wis.) led off with a double to left field. But the Cougars retired three straight CUW batters, and the score remained 4-0 in favor of CUC. 

In the bottom of the fourth inning, junior Jack Hribernik (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) took the mound for the Falcons in place of freshman starting pitcher Tyler Bartczak (Crestwood, Ill.). Bartczak finished his day on the bump, pitching three complete innings and striking four CUC batters on 60 pitches. 

In the bottom of the fourth and fifth inning, Jack Hribernik completed a pair of 1-2-3 innings, holding the Cougars scoreless as the score remained 4-0 in Concordia Chicago's favor. 

The top of the sixth inning saw the Falcons be held scoreless once again, whereas the bottom of the inning saw the Cougars tally on another run, extending their lead to 5-0 with three innings left of play. 

In the bottom of the seventh inning, sophomore pitcher Owen Burns (Morris, Ill.) subbed in place for junior pitcher Ben Spiers (Waukesha, Wis.). Spiers, who ended the day with one inning pitched where he struck out one batter on ten total pitches. 

The bottom of the seventh saw the Cougars extend their lead with a bases-clearing 2-RBI double. However, the Falcons got out of the inning following a great defensive play from senior Johannes Haakenson (Janesville, Wis.), who caught the ball in centerfield and gunned out a Cougar trying to tag from third, breaking up the sacrifice fly opportunity.

Junior Connor Krauseneck (Saginaw, Mich.) took the mound in the bottom of the eighth and went three up, three down, holding the Cougars scoreless.

The Falcons scored one run in the top of the ninth inning. Senior Cole Aguirre (Chino Hills, Calif.) led off the inning, reaching first after being walked. Then, sophomore Josh Aguiniga (Chicago, Ill.) doubled through the left side. With runners on second and third, Senior Brandon Niedfeldt (Roscoe, Ill.) scored Aguirre with a fielder's choice, cutting the Cougar lead to 7-1.

Despite scratching one run, the Falcons could not complete the comeback and fell 7-1.

With the loss, the Falcon's record now stands at 19-13 on the year and 11-7 in the conference as Concordia Chicago sweeps the season series. 

The Falcons will look to bounce back and have a quick turnaround as they host the Firebirds of Carthage College on Wednesday, May 5th, at 5 pm.