Baseball Falls to Millikin

DECATUR, Ill. – In game one of their weekend in Illinois, the CUW baseball team fell at the hands of Millikin University, 7-4, to fall to 3-5 on the year.  

Senior Jack Hribernik (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) made quick work of Millikin's top three batters in the top of the first, completing the 1-2-3 inning as he forced one groundout and two pop-outs to bring the Falcons up to bat. 

To lead off the top of the second inning, junior Brynden Cleveland (Crestwood, Ill.) singled to right field and, in the next at-bat, stole second.

Freshman Ryan Le (Orland Park, Ill.) opened the scoring for the Falcons, as he brought Cleveland home with a single up the middle to give CUW the early 1-0 lead. 

But Millikin would respond in their half of the inning as the score remained 5-1 in their favor to the top of the sixth.

Concordia scratched another run in the top of the sixth, determined to mount the comeback.

Senior Cole Aguirre (Chino Hills, Calif.) led off the inning, drawing a walk. Aguirre would reach second as Ryan Le built off his first at-bat and singled to left field. In the next at-bat, senior Sterling Armstrong (Barrington, Ill.) capitalized with Aguirre in scoring position with a single to right field for the RBI single to bring the score to 5-2. 

However, the bottom of the sixth saw Millikin score two runs to establish a 7-2 margin.

CUW's comeback effort persisted in the top of the ninth as senior Jack Owens (Chicago, Ill.) was the first base runner of the inning as he drew a walk. 

Senior Jimmy Juergensen (Cedarburg, Wis.) and junior Kyle Flynn (Nashville, Tenn.) also had walks to load the bases. 

With runners in scoring position, Brynden Cleveland came through with a single to score Owens from third. 

Later in the inning, Cole Aguirre singled to shortstop to score Juergensen as the Falcons inched closer with the score now at 7-4. 

But the Falcons' comeback effort would fall short as the score remained 7-4 in the top of the ninth inning. 

Brynden Cleveland, Ryan Le, Cole Aguirre, and Sterling Armstrong all had two hits and one RBI in the effort. 

Defensively, Jack Owens had six putouts from centerfield. 

From the mound, Jack Hribernik faced 20 batters in his 4.1 innings pitched as he had a strikeout. Senior Tyler Drezek (West Allis, Wis.) also had a strikeout. 

Junior Luke Bruckner (Fon du Lac, Wis.) completed two innings and forced four flyouts and two groundouts. Fellow junior Owen Burns (Morris, Ill.) went three-up three-down in his appearance on 11 pitches. 

CUW will quickly return to the field tomorrow, taking on Illinois College in a doubleheader with the first pitch set for noon.