LISLE, Ill. – The MSOE baseball saw its season come to an end Saturday night, defeating Concordia University Chicago in an offensive frenzy to advance to the title game where they fell to top seed Aurora University.
RESULTS
No. 2 MSOE RAIDERS – 15
No. 3 Concordia Chicago – 13
No. 2 MSOE RAIDERS - 9
No. 1 Aurora – 10
HOW IT HAPPENED
- vs. Concordia Chicago
- Concordia Chicago (24-19, 17-7 NACC) led the from the jump in the top of the first, sending a two-run blast over the left field fence for the early advantage. MSOE (30-14, 18-6 NACC) cut that lead in half in the bottom of the inning as with two outs AJ Le and Camden Hoier each drawing walks for Kyle Mayberry knocking in one with a single to left, making it 2-1. Cougars extended that lead mightily in the top of the second, put up four with the Raiders only able to cover one of those runs in the bottom half on an RBI single from Charlie Claas to make it 6-2.
- After both sides being held scoreless in the third, the Cougars added with a run in the top of the fourth. Teo Greco and Jordan Skolmar both reached to begin the bottom half, eaching coming in on sacrifice flies from Jake Franks and Charlie Claas to cut it down to a four-run game. Bosque extended the inning after reaching on error with Le and Hoier each reaching after that to load the bases for Mayberry, taking one at on the shoulder to bring in a run. A surprise bunt from Robby Erickson with two outs caught the Cougars off guard, able to reach, making it a one run game before Greco came back up to draw a walk to tie the game at seven. After the Cougars brought in a new pitcher, the first pitch thrown went wild for Mayberry to streak home to take the lead, with four more coming in after that to give the Raiders a 12-7 advantage.
- The Cougars immediately cut right back into the deficit, scoring a run in the fifth and sixth inning to cut it down to three. The Raiders took back those two runs in the bottom of the sixth with a two-run double from Bosque to bring the lead back to five. Allowing two more in the seventh, Le added one more to the total with a single up the middle to score Frank and despite a late rally from the Cougars in the ninth when they scored two runs with the NACC player of the year at the plate with two outs, Max Babich shut it down to seal the win.
- vs. Aurora
- The Raiders got out to lead quickly looking to gain control as Claas and Le got into scoring position with just one out in the top of the first for Hoier and Mayberry to bring them in for a 2-0 lead. Aurora (31-12, 20-4 NACC) cut into it in the bottom taking a lead of their own for a 3-2 advantage. The Raiders tied things up in the third with two men on and a single through the left side from Hoier. A batter later, Mayberry put the Raiders back in the lead as he legged out a fielder's choice that scored Le to make it 4-3.
- The Spartans would tie up the ball game in the fourth. Scoreless in the fifth, the Raiders would find their spark again with RBIs coming from Bosque and Le to make it 6-4. The Spartans made a massive push, putting six across. The Raiders immediately made a run to close that gap in the top of the eighth with Ben Sullivan driving in one and Greco scoring two to make it 10-9 but couldn't get the final run across.
NOTABLE PERFORMANCES
- vs. Concordia Chicago
- Charlie Claas – 2 for 4, 3 RBIs, 1 Stolen Base, 1 Sacrifice Fly
- Jake Franks – 3 RBIs, 1 Walk, 1 Sacrifice Fly, 1 Hit by Pitch
- vs. Aurora
WHO'S ON DECK
The Raiders end their season with an overall record of 30-14, setting a program record for wins in and a season, and went 18-6 in conference play during the regular season. The Raiders had ten named to the all-conference team, having three from the pitching staff named first-team honors, with
Zach Brzezinski being named the NACC Pitcher of the Year.
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MSOERaiders.com. You can also follow the Red & White on Twitter
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