Chicago, Illinois -

Despite taking an early 1-0 lead on a homerun to right field off the bat of David Enters, the Concordia baseball team fell victim at North Park, 3-2, Wednesday afternoon in the Windy City.

The Vikings answered the CUW challenge with two runs of their own in the bottom of the third inning, before adding a third run in the fourth. Thanks to a two-run homerun by Mike Domenick and a solo shot from Andy Athans, North Park had more than enough offense for the three pitcher's they utilized.

The Falcons, who were held to four hits all game long, made things interesting in their rally attempt in the eighth inning. After David Enters led off with a bunt single, he would come all the way around to score when Daniel Mueller reached on a fielder's choice attempt.

Thanks to a pair of North Park errors (which would allow the unearned run to score on the fielder's choice), Mueller ended up at third base with no outs. Eventually loading the bases, CUW could not record a clutch hit and would continue to trail.

By the time all was said and done, the Falcons had stranded six on base - including four in scoring position.

In a game that easily could have been summed up as a pitcher's duel, Concordia received seven strong innings on the mound from starter Derrick Pankow. The Falcon' veteran allowed three runs on eight hits, striking out nine and walking none.

The loss dropped the Falcons to 4-7, as they look to bounce back at home on Friday in a doubleheader against Northland College at 1pm (weather/field conditions permitting). Following Friday's twinbill, Concordia is not slated to return to game action until their conference opener on April 2nd at Rockford College.