Concordia Chicago (Ill.) 16, Luther (Iowa) 3

La Crosse, Wis. - Concordia University Chicago (Ill.) remained undefeated at the NCAA Division III Midwest Regional Thursday night with a 16-3 victory over Luther College (Iowa) at Copeland Park.  The Cougars, ranked 19th on D3baseball.com, improve to 34-11 on the season and will play Friday, May 20 at 4:30 p.m. against UW-La Crosse.  Luther (Iowa) falls to 33-13 and will play in an elimination game Friday, May 20 at 1:15 p.m. versus The College of Saint Scholastica (Minn.).
 
Concordia Chicago (Ill.) took the early lead in the top of the second Thursday night.  Mitch Wilson walked to open the frame followed by single from Grant Davis.  After two batters struck out, Colin Bethran doubled down the left field line, scoring Wilson on the play to make it 1-0. 
 
Luther (Iowa) pulled ahead in the bottom of the third.  Jake Halverson started the inning with a bunt single.  Alex Weber walked and after a fly-out, the runners advanced to second and third on a groundout.  Mitch Knippenberg walked to load the bases, and Halverson scored when Joe Silversmith drew the third walk of the inning to make it 1-1.  The next batter, Bryce Hingst, singled to right center, driving in two to give the Norse a 3-1 lead. 
 
Concordia Chicago (Ill.) cut the lead to 3-2 in the fourth on a Wilson home run to right field. The Cougars scored four runs on three hits in the sixth to take the lead.  Brent Spohr walked to lead-off the rally.  With one out, Davis singled to center, moving Spohr to second.  Kevin Coppin followed with a single to knock in Spohr to tie the game at 3-3.  Andrew Kroncke reached when his sacrifice bunt was mishandled by the Luther (Iowa) pitcher, moving Coppin to third, and allowing Davis to score to give Concordia Chicago (Ill.) the lead at 4-3.  After a strikeout, Bryan VanDuser doubled down the left field line, driving in two more runs to make the score 6-3. 
 
In the seventh, Concordia Chicago (Ill.) added three runs on three hits.  Coppin singled up the middle driving in two runs to make it 8-3.  He later stole second and scored on a Kroncke single, making it 9-3.  The Cougars scored four more runs in the eighth and three in the ninth, capped by a two-run home run from Spohr.
 
Alex Meyers (6-2) went 6.0 innings to pick up the win for Concordia Chicago (Ill.).  He gave up three runs on five hits while striking out three and walking six. 
 
VanDuser and Wilson both went 3-for-5 for the Cougars.  Wilson drove in two runs and scored four times, adding a home run and a triple.  VanDuser drove in three runs and had two doubles while scoring twice.  Coppin was 2-for-5 with three RBI and two runs while Spohr added the two-run home run and scored twice. 
 
Blake Peterson (7-2) took the loss for Luther (Iowa), giving up eight runs (six earned) on nine hits in 6.1 innings.  He struck out 11 and walked three. Halverson went 2-for-2 with a double and one run for the Norse.  Hingst finished 1-for-3 with two RBI.