Concordia Chicago wins NAC Baseball Tournament title over Aurora
LOVES PARK, Ill. -- Concordia University Chicago earned the Northern Athletics Conference’s first-ever automatic berth into the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament by defeating Aurora University, 12-6, in the NAC Tournament Championship game at Road Ranger Stadium on Saturday afternoon.

Phil Seris, who led the league with 15 regular season home runs, used his power to break a 5-5 tie in the fifth with a long home run over the right field picnic deck. His first home run of the game was followed by two more runs to give the Cougars (33-13) a more comfortable 8-5 lead.

In the top half of the seventh, Aurora (29-13) had a chance to some damage with a run in and runners on first and second with two outs. Fitzgerald caught a break when Jack Walker’s fielding error at shortstop allowed him to reach base, but Zach Bickel backed up the play and was able to gun down Warner at home plate to end the inning in dramatic fashion.

In the bottom half of the inning, the high-powered Cougar offense provided some much-needed insurance. After two quick outs, the Cougars strung together a huge rally. With Scott Stevens on second and Dan Linsner on first, Head Coach Spiro Lempesis called a double steal and it was executed to perfection. The batter Bickel then drove the next pitch off the wall in left center field, driving in both runs. Bickel finished the day 5-for-5 at the plate with two runs scored and three RBI. Later in the inning, Jack Walker hit his 12th home run of the season, a 2-run shot just right of the center field batter’s eye to provide the final margin of victory.

The Spartan pitching staff, which held the Cougars to only three runs in their first meeting on Friday, was depleted in this one after staving off Rockford in the game prior by a score of 13-10. Concordia Chicago went a perfect 3-0 in the tournament and received a strong outing from Matt Kudlik who went 6.1 innings for his eighth win of the season.

The Cougars will discover their first opponent in the NCAA Division III Tournament on Monday morning.

Courtesy of Edgewood College, Sports Information Department, May 9, 2009.