OAK BROOK, Ill. – Webster University is set to play in its first-ever NCAA Division III Super Regional this weekend as the 18th-ranked Gorloks play a best-of-three series with Concordia-Chicago in River Forest, Ill.

The Gorloks (35-11) will face No. 1 ranked Concordia-Chicago (42-8) in a three-game set beginning at 12 p.m. on Friday at CUC Cougar Field on the CUC campus. The second game is scheduled for Saturday at 11 a.m., with the in-necessary game to follow about 45 minutes after the conclusion of Saturday's first game.

The winner of the Midwest Super Regional advances to Cedar Rapids, Iowa for the NCAA Division III World Series on May 31-June 5 at Perfect Game Field at Veteran's Memorial Stadium.

Webster comes into this weekend's Midwest Super Regional having won nine of its last 10 games overall, including posting a 3-1 record last weekend to take home the NCAA Whitewater Regional title. At the Whitewater, Wis., Regional, the top-seeded Gorloks opened with an 11-2 win over Bethany Lutheran, before picking up a 7-5 win over Wisconsin-Whitewater in a winner's bracket game and then then splitting two games with North Central (Ill.) as NCC picked up a 14-9 win Sunday's first championship game to force an if-necessary game and in the if necessary game, Webster earned an 11-2 win to advance to this weekend's Super Regional being hosted by Concordia-Chicago.

The Gorloks are making its third consecutive and 13th all-time appearance in the NCAA Tournament this season, including making its eighth appearance in the last nine seasons. The Gorloks have posted a 26-26 record all-time in the NCAA Tournament, including a 26-22 mark in the NCAA Tournament under 13th-year Gorlok head coach Bill Kurich.

Webster, who is seeking its fourth trip to the Division III World Series and the first trip since 2015, enters the Midwest Super Regional sporting a 35-11 overall record and the Gorloks have won nine of its last 10 and 20 of its 23 games overall with the only losses coming in back-to-back shutouts against Fontbonne (9-0) on April 28 and top-ranked Concordia-Chicago (1-0) on May 3 and to North Central (14-9) in Sunday's first Whitewater Regional championship game. Webster earned the automatic bid into the NCAA Tournament after claiming its second consecutive and 10th all-time St. Louis Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title with a 10-5 win over Spalding in the championship game.

Meanwhile, Concordia-Chicago comes into this weekend's Midwest Super Regional looking to make a third straight trip to the Division III World Series as the Cougars are sporting a 42-8 overall record and have won three straight games and six of its last eight games overall, including going 4-1 at last weekend's Chicago Regional that was hosted by CUC. At their regional, the Cougars fell 10-8 to Baldwin Wallace in a winner's bracket game and were forced to win three elimination games, including picking up a 5-3 win on Monday over Baldwin Wallace in the championship game.

CUC is making its ninth all-time NCAA Tournament appearance this season as they are 25-18 all-time in the tournament and have played in the D-III World Series the past two years.

This weekend's Midwest Super Regional will be the fourth, fifth and possibly sixth time this season that CUC and Webster have met on the baseball field as CUC has won two of the three meetings so fat this year, but Webster won the most recent meeting, 2-1, at Lee Pfund Field in Carol Stream, Ill., on May 3 to help the Gorloks manage a split of a doubleheader against the Cougars. Overall, CUC holds an 11-8 edge all-time in the series between the two schools.

The Gorloks enter this weekend's Midwest Super Regional with a strong pitching staff that is third in Division III Baseball in ERA (2.80) and has defense that leads D-III in fielding percentage at .979. The Gorloks pitching staff has allowed just 141 runs in 382 innings of work and has tossed seven complete games, five shutouts and has recorded 340 strikeouts and walked just 120 opposing batters. Webster's opponents are hitting just .235 against the Gorloks this season. On defense, Webster has committed just 35 errors in 1,634 fielding chances and has also turned 40 double plays, which is 16th-best in Division III.

While its pitching staff and defense have been the key component to Webster's success this season, the Gorloks offense has picked up things in the postseason as Webster enters Friday's action hitting .299 on the season, but is hitting .352 over its last 10 games and at last weekend's Whitewater Regional, the Gorloks hit .393 as a team and they recorded 59 hits, scored 38 runs, hit 12 doubles, one triple, two home runs and had 35 RBI. The Gorloks have hit 88 doubles this season and are scoring 6.7 runs per game and have recorded 435 base hits.

Leading the way for Webster's pitching staff is junior Matt Mulhearn (Chicago Heights, Ill./Marian Catholic). Mulhearn, who was named a First-Team All-SLIAC selection and earned Second-Team All-Central Region honors on Thursday by D3Baseball.com, enters this weekend leading the Gorloks in wins (12), starts (14), complete games (5), ERA (2.01), innings pitched (96.1) and strikeouts (100) and is second in appearances (17) and is one of just three pitchers in school history to record 100 or more strikeouts in a season. Mulhearn, who won two of WU's three games at last weekend's regional and was named the MVP of the Whitewater Regional, is 12-2 on the year and currently tied for first in D-III in wins (12) and is sixth in strikeout-to-walk ratio (9.09), 10th in strikeouts (100), 15th in WHIP (0.91) and 17th in complete games (5) and has recorded six or more strikeouts in 10 of its 17 outings, including two double-digit strikeout performances. Mulhearn's 12 wins and 98.1 innings pitched this season are both school records, while his 14 starts are second most in a single season.

In addition to Mulhearn, sophomore Sean Beaver (San Diego, Calif./Scripps Ranch), who was named a Third-Team All-SLIAC selection and the MVP of the SLIAC Tournament, is 7-3 with a 2.29 ERA. He has made 12 appearances and 11 starts and in 74.2 innings of work, Beaver has struck out 65 and walked 20. He has allowed two runs or less in eight of his last 12 appearances, including allowing no runs in five of those nine outings. In five postseason games in Beaver's career, the right-hander is 4-0 with a 1.80 ERA as in 35 innings of work, he has allowed 33 hits, nine runs (seven earned runs), while walking just two and striking out 24.

On the season, Webster's starters are sporting a 2.83 ERA as they are 22-9 on the year and in 244.2 innings, they have allowed 228 hits, 97 runs, 77 earned runs, 62 walks and has struck out 215.

The Gorloks bullpen has been equally effective as they are sporting a 2.75 ERA as they have tossed 137.1 innings and have allowed 98 hits, 44 runs, 42 earned runs, walked 56 and have struck out 125 and are 13-2 with nine saves.

Webster's bullpen has been led by senior Adrian Santiago (Chicago, Ill./Oakton College) as he enters the Midwest Super Regional with a 7-2 record and a 2.29 ERA. In addition, he has recorded eight saves, which is tied for first all-time in a single season. Santiago, who was named a Third-Team All-SLIAC honoree, has made a team-best 23 appearances and in 51 innings, he has struck out 51 and walked just 19 and opposing hitters are hitting just .187 against Santiago. On the year, Santiago has allowed one run or less in 20 of his 23 appearances, including allowing no runs in 13 of those outings.

Webster's offense has three regulars in its line-up hitting over .300 on the year, including sophomore third baseman Ben Swords (Freeport, Ill./Freeport) hitting a team-leading .363 and over his last 10 games, Swords is hitting .500, including hitting .647 en route to earning a spot on the All-Tournament Team at last weekend's Whitewater Regional. The other two Gorloks hitting over .300 this season are senior right fielder Nate Tholl (Tinley Park, Ill./John A. Logan CC) and junior left fielder A.J. Smith (DuQuoin, Ill./DuQuoin) as Tholl is hitting ..327 and Smith is hitting .324 on the year.

Swords, who was named a First-Team All-SLIAC selection and earned Second-Team All-Central Region honors on Thursday from D3Baseball.com, leads the Gorloks in at-bats (171), hits (62), runs scored (47), doubles (19) and RBI (51) and is tied for the team lead in home runs with six and is second in walks (26) and is 14-for-16 on stolen bases, while Tholl is second in hits (48), doubles (13) and is tied for the team lead in stolen bases with 22 (22-for-25) and had been hit by a team-high 17 pitches, while Smith is fourth in hits (45), second in runs scored (36) and leads the teams in walks with 28.

Perhaps no hitter other than Swords is hotter than junior All-American first baseman Kyler Kent (Pottsboro, Texas/Pottsboro) as Kent, who is currently in the midst of a nine-game hit streak, is hitting .429 over his last 10 games and has recorded 15 hits, scored eight hits, hit two doubles, two home runs and has had 12 RBI and has struck out just two times in 35 at-bats. At the Whitewater Regional, Kent was named to the All-Tournament Team after hitting .375 with six hits, four runs scored, two doubles, a home run and 4 RBI.

On the season, Webster has recoded 109 multi-hit games, including Swords, Kent and Smith leading the way with 15, 14 and 14 multi-hit games respectively. In addition, Webster has hit 88 doubles which leads the SLIAC.

Webster is also one of the top base stealing teams in Division III as the Gorloks are 106-for-132 on stolen bases this season and the 106 steals are 14th in Division III. On the year, four Gorloks have recorded 10 or more steals, including junior centerfielder Aron Hopp (Lincoln, Ill./Lincoln College) and Tholl leading theway with 22 steals apiece as Hopp is 22-for-26 and Tholl is 22-for-25 on the year. In addition to Hopp and Tholl, Swords is 14-for-16 and Smith is 12-for-16.

The Gorloks opponent this weekend, Concordia-Chicago, comes into the Midwest Super Regional hitting .325 as a team and have an ERA of 3.27. The Cougars are fifth in Division III in doubles (111), seventh in Division III in hits (551), third in Division III in runs scored (424) and are sixth in Division III in stolen bases (121). On the mound, CUC is 15th in D-III in ERA and seventh in shutouts with seven.

Leading the way offensively for the Cougars is senior infielder Bryan Vanduser, who is hitting .387 with 72 hits, 55 runs scored, 17 doubles, two triples, four home runs and had had 55 RBI and is 17-for-20 on stolen bases. In addition to Vanduser, junior outfielder Mateo Calle is hitting .383 with 46 hits, 26 runs scored, five doubles, three home runs, 28 RBI and senior shortstop Jose Mercado is hitting .366 with 67 hits and 67 runs scored and has also added 10 doubles, four triples, six home runs, 29 RBI and is 46-for-49 on stolen bases. The 46 stolen bases lead Division III, while he also leads Division III in hit by pitches as he been hit 29 times and his 67 runs scored are second in Division III. As a team, CUC has six regulars in its line-up hitting over .300 on the season.

The Cougars pitching staff is led by senior Adam Gregory as he is 7-0 with a 1.77 ERA. Gregory has made 10 starts and has thrown one complete games and in 61 innings of work, he has recorded 49 strikeouts and walked just 15. In addition to Gregory, sophomore Cole Carmen is 9-2 with a 2.41 ERA and has had 49 strikeouts and nine walks in 71 innings and junior Alex Crinigan leads the Cougars in strikeouts with 51 and is 5-2 with a 3.17 ERA. CUC's bullpen is anchored by freshman closer Mike Tobin as he is 2-0 with a 1.42 ERA and has recorded eight saves in 25.1 innings of work.

SUPER REGIONAL QUICK NOTES: The two teams competing this weekend have posted a combined record of 77-19 this season and have a combined record of 51-44 all-time in the NCAA Tournament… Both Webster and CUC have combined to make 23 all-time appearances in the NCAA Tournament and have made a combined five trips to the Division III World Series as Webster advanced to the World Series in 2012, 2013 and 2015 and CUC played in the World Series in both 2017 and 2018… CUC is one of three teams left in this year's NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament that played in last year's Division III World Series as the other two teams are Wooster (Ohio) and Misericordia… The two teams this weekend have a combined batting average of .312 and a combined team ERA of 3.04… Webster and CUC have met twice in the postseason previously as they faced each other in the 2013 NCAA Central Regional in Moline, Ill., as the Gorloks won both of those match-ups, including a 7-3 win in the championship game to earn a repeat trip to the D-III World Series… CUC head coach Mike Stawski was an assistant on Kurich's first three Webster teams (2007-09), while Kurich was an assistant at CUC for two years in 2001-03… Since the beginning of the 2015 season, CUC and Webster have combined to win a total of 347 games and have posted a combined record of 347-130 and both teams have won 30 or more games eight times as CUC has won 30 or more games in each of those five seasons, while Webster has won 30 or more games in three of those five years.

Listed below is the Midwest Super Regional Tournament schedule.