CUW Shuts Down St. Norbert

MEQUON, Wis. - The Falcons moved to 16-19 overall and 11-11 in Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) play following a sweep of St. Norbert College, 4-1 and 7-6. 

With the win, baseball improves to 10-3 overall from Kapco Park.

After a 1-2-3 inning for the Green Knights behind the pitching of junior Zach Slome (Schaumburg, Ill.), the Falcons wasted no time gathering a lead as senior Cole Aguirre (Chino Hills, Calif) lifted a ball deep to center field for a solo home run to secure a 1-0 lead in the top of the first. 

Like the first inning, the CUW held St. Norbert scoreless in the top of the second and tacked on a run in the bottom of the inning to go up 2-0 following a Green Knight error off the bat of senior Cody aeier (Mandan, N.D.), able to drive in fellow senior Sterling Armstrong (Lake Barrington, Ill.) who singled to start the inning. 

Later in the contest, CUW continued gradually extending their advantage as sophomore Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.) doubled to lead off the inning. With two outs, Cody Maier again came up clutch with a double down the left-field line to score Miller, giving the Falcons a three-run lead. 

But SNC would scratch a run back in the top of the fifth, tying the score at 3-1. 

Undeterred by St. Norbert's attempt at a comeback, CUW demonstrated their resilience in the bottom of the sixth, as sophomore Kyle Flynn found a gap in left-center for a double, scoring freshman Alex Ames (Plymouth, Wis.), who showcased his speed by scoring from first. 

With the insurance run, the Blue and White held a 4-1 lead, putting them three outs away from the victory.

In for the save was freshman Alex Kuntz (Richfield, Wis.), who, after a walk, retired three straight SNC batters to lock up the 4-1 victory and his third save of the season in game one of Tuesday's doubleheader. 

Cody Meier led the way for CUW on the offensive end, recording two RBIs in the effort, the first multi-RBI game of his 2024 campaign. 

Meanwhile, Zach Slome improved to 5-3 overall. He pitched six complete innings, striking out four batters and giving up one earned run on 109 pitches. 

Quickly after the end of game one, both teams shifted their focus to game two.

Looking to avenge their game one defeat, the Green Knights scratched three runs in the top of the first. 

The score would remain 3-0 in favor of SNC until the bottom of the third inning when Connor Lasch (Chicago, Ill.) blasted a ball to left field for his collegiate long ball, helping Concordia record their first run and hit of the game. 

However, Norbert would respond with three runs in the top of the fourth to establish a 6-1 lead. 

The score remained 6-1 until the bottom of the sixth when the Falcons' bats came alive for five runs. 

Connor Lasch hit a hard ball down the left field line to force an error to kick off the bottom of the fifth. Baserunners continued to pile up for Concordia as freshman Jordan Vazquez (Chicago, Ill.) singled through the right side. 

Picking up where he left off, Cole Aguirre drilled a ball to deep center field, scoring Lasch to cut the lead to 6-2.

In the next at-bat, junior Brynden Cleveland (Crestwood, Ill.) blasted a hard chopper over to second base again, causing a Green Knight's error to score Aguirre and Vazquez. 

After an SNC pitching change, Matt Miller drew a walk, putting runners on first and second. 

Senior Jimmy Juergensen (Cedarburg, Wis.) was subbed in to pinch hit with runners on first and second. Juergensen came through with a double to right center that reached the fence, scoring two more runs to level the score at s 6-6. 

In the top of the seventh, the Falcons escaped a jam as junior Chris Rooney (Mundelein, Ill.) entered the game with runners on second and third. Despite the pressure, Rooney recorded two straight strikeouts to keep the score at six apiece. 

Looking to take their first lead of game two, Matt Miller reached second following a double to left field. In the next at-bat, Jimmy Juergensen battled at the plate before coming through with another timely piece of hitting as he went opposite with a single through the left side to score Miller and give CUW the 7-6 lead. 

With the slim lead, the Falcons closed out the top of the ninth behind the strong pitching of Chris Rooney as he went 1-2-3, striking out two batters and forcing one fly out to secure the 7-6 victory. 

Jimmy Juergensen recorded three RBIs in game two, while Brynden Cleveland had two. Meanwhile, Jordan Vazquez and Juergensen also had two hits in part two of the doubleheader. 

Junior starting pitcher Luke Brucker (Fond du Lac, Wis.) pitched three and one-third innings, striking out one batter. Meanwhile, senior Ben Spiers (Waukesha, Wis.) had 10 strikes in his one inning of pitching. 

Junior Benjamin Vorpahl (Sheboygan, Wis.) made a solid appearance from the bump, giving up zero earned runs while recording a strikeout on 18 pitches. 

Chris Rooney picked up his first win of the year to improve to 1-0 as he went three full innings, striking out five batters and not allowing a single St. Norbert run. 

The Falcons will look to build on their momentum and carry that into Friday when they will wrap up the regular season from home when they host the Cougars of Concordia Chicago.