Cougars rally but come up short in Regional opener
ADRIAN, Mich. -- There have not been many days in the Concordia Cougars’ 2009 season where the offense has been effectively shut down, but that was the story of today’s NCAA III Mideast Regional game in Adrian, Michigan. Justin McDowell, sophomore righthander for the College of Wooster, allowed just two hits over the first eight innings as the second-seeded Fighting Scots upended the fifth-seeded Cougars by a 5-1 score.

“McDowell was the difference today, no doubt about it,” said Concordia head coach Spiro Lempesis. “He had a really good fastball and slider, his location was great and, even though our reports said he was a fly ball pitcher, he was getting us to hit a ton of ground balls.”

Matt Groezinger was the Scots’ other difference-maker in a fast two-hour, 28-minute game. After Cougar starter Jason Jusk (Downers Grove, IL/North) allowed a walk and a base hit to the first two batters, Groezinger came up with one out and got all of an 0-1 pitch, sending it over the wall in rightfield for a quick 3-0 lead.

“It’s possible that Jason might have had a bit of nervousness in the first inning, along with some of our other players,” remarked Lempesis. “I though that Jason settled down after that homer and pitched a good ball game. Normally, we’re good at coming back from early deficits, but that wasn’t the case today with the way that McDowell pitched.”

The Scots scored again in the fourth as Stu Beath lined the ball down the rightfield line for a lead-off double. With Groezinger at the plate, Jusk uncorked a pair of wild pitches on consecutive breaking balls, allowing Beath to cross the plate for a 4-0 lead.

Concordia was held hitless by McDowell over the first three innings, but Jack Walker (Naperville, IL/North) led off the top of the fourth inning with a sharp liner over the first baseman’s head for a lead-off double. McDowell settled down and retired Brandon Isaac (Matteson, IL/Marian Catholic) on a foul pop to first and Kyle Slechta (Berwyn, IL/Walther Lutheran) on a fly to center. The Cougars appeared to catch a break when Phil Seris (St. Louis, MO/Lutheran North) was ruled safe on a ground ball to first base with the pitcher covering, Walker advancing to third. However, McDowell coaxed Zach Tropp (Woodstock, IL/Woodstock) into grounding to the shortstop, keeping Wooster’s lead at 4-0.

Wooster added their final run in the sixth inning. Michael DeBord reached on a lead-off single. He advanced to second when Shane Swearingen was hit by a pitch, and both runners moved up on a sacrifice bunt. Jusk then threw his third wild pitch of the day to score DeBord for a five-run lead.

McDowell remained in control, retiring 13 of 14 batters beginning with Tropp’s out in the fourth (only a two-out walk to Isaac in the sixth broke the string). However, Walker ended McDowell’s roll as well as his shutout when he led off the top of the ninth with his 13th homer of the season, a shot to right. Although McDowell came back to fan Isaac, Walker’s homer served as a spark. Slechta and Seris followed with base hits to finally chase McDowell from the mound after 134 pitches. Reliever Matt Miller struck out Tropp on a 2-2 pitch for the second out, but pinch-hitter Eric Ignatowski (Carol Stream, IL/Glenbard North) drew a walk to load the bases and bring the tying run to the plate in Scott Stephens (Rosemont, IL/East Leyden), who hit a grand slam back on May 1 in a game against Rockford College. Unfortunately for the Cougars, the storybook ending did not occur here as Miller struck out Stephens on a 1-2 sinker to end the game.

The Cougars will try to stave off elimination tomorrow at 11 a.m. (EST) when they face Heidelberg University (36-8). The top-seeded Student Princes were surprised in this morning’s first game as sixth-seeded Rose-Hulman Institute took a convincing 12-2 victory. Senior Joe Leyhane (Chicago, IL/Notre Dame) is expected to take the mound for the Cougars (33-14).

Courtesy of Concordia University Chicago, Sports Information Department, May 14, 2009.