(Easley, SC) – Concordia baseball began pool play at the NCCAA World Series on Wednesday with a pair of games in Pool A. The #5 seeded Cardinals first faced off against #4 Hiwassee Christian, claiming a 7-6 win on a squeeze bunt from Vann Acker (JR/Eaton Rapids, MI) in the bottom of the 9th. CUAA then played #1 seed Southwestern Christian in the nightcap, keeping the game close early by falling 6-1.
Game 1 - #5 CUAA 7, #4 Hiwassee Christian 6
Billy Blair (SO/St. Charles, MI) started game 1 on the mound for Concordia, notching 7 strikeouts in 5.2 innings on the day. Blair pitched out of a jam in the 1st inning, leaving runners at the corners for Hiwassee Christian.
A solo home run in the top of the 2nd from Hiwassee gave them an early 1-0 lead, but Billy Blair struck out the next 3 batters to end the inning. The Cardinals battled back in the bottom of the 2nd after Grant Steinborn (JR/Flushing, MI) reached on an error. Steinborn advanced to third base on groundouts by Preston Sherman (JR/Homer, MI) and Ethan Vosburg (SR/Climax, MI), and an RBI single from Justin Mercer (SR/Howell, MI) scored the run to tie the game.
CUAA used a 4-run 4th inning to take the lead. Blaine Milheim (SR/Eaton Rapids, MI) led off with a single, and another single from Grant Steinborn combined with Hiwassee errors scored Milheim. Preston Sherman hit an RBI single to score Steinborn, and a 2-run homer from Justin Mercer put Concordia up 5-1.
Billy Blair pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the 5th to keep the Cardinals ahead. Kane Bourbina (JR/Saginaw, MI) came in to pitch midway through the 6th inning, getting the final out to help Concordia out of another bases-loaded jam.
A 3-run homer from Hiwassee in the 7th made the game closer, cutting the Cardinals' lead to 5-4. Tyson Kleinfelter (FR/Perrysburg, OH) came on to pitch for Concordia in the 8th. Hiwassee took a 6-5 lead with 2 runs in the top of the 8th, but the Cardinals responded in the bottom half of the inning as Preston Sherman tied the game by crushing a solo home run.
Alex Philips came on to pitch in the 9th and the Concordia defense held Hiwassee scoreless in the inning. Center fielder Blaine Milheim made a solid throw from the outfield to secure an out at home plate, and Philips struck out the last batter of the inning.
Maxwell Hecht (FR/Holland, MI) led off the bottom of the 9th with a single and was able to steal second after a close throw from the Hiwassee catcher. Chris Lowe (JR/DeWitt, MI) bunted Hecht over to third base, and a well-placed bunt from Vann Acker was able to score Hecht for the game-winning run.
Game 2 – #1 Southwestern Christian 6, #5 CUAA 2
Jacob Clark (SR/Pinckney, MI) was the starting pitcher for Concordia in game 2, recording 4 strikeouts in 7 innings. The contest began as a pitcher's duel with neither team scoring in the first 5 innings. Clark pitched out of a bases-loaded jam in the 1st to keep the game scoreless.
Maxwell Hecht was alert at first base to catch a lineout for the final out of the 3rd inning. Both pitchers continued to limit the other team to no more than 1 hit per inning.
Southwestern Christian scored the first run of the game in the top of the 6th to take a 1-0 lead. The Cardinals threatened in the bottom of the 6th after Preston Sherman was hit by a pitch and Justin Mercer drew a walk. A controversial batter's interference call against CUAA would be a factor in the inning and no runs would score.
Southwestern Christian added 2 more runs in the 7th to go up 3-0, but the Cardinals got on the board in the bottom of the 7th. Vann Acker was hit by a pitch to start the inning and a single from Chris Lowe advanced Acker to third base. While another controversial interference call led to a double play ruling against CUAA, Vann Acker would later reach home on a passed ball to put the Cardinals on the board.
Gabriel Guevara (SO/Guatire, Venezuela) came in to pitch for Concordia in the 8th. Guevara notched 2 strikeouts in the inning, but Southwestern Christian added 2 more runs to extend their lead to 5-1.
Gregory Barbuto (SR/Oakville, ON) and Adam Willinger (SR/Flat Rock, MI) combined to pitch the 9th for the Cardinals. Barbuto struck out a batter and Willinger ended the inning with a pickoff to second base, but Southwestern Christian scored another run in the inning.
Concordia was able to score a run in the bottom of the 9th when Blaine Milheim hit a sacrifice groundout to score Maxwell Hecht, but the Cardinals would fall by a final score of 6-2.
CUAA finishes day one at the NCCAA World Series with a 1-1 record in pool play. The Cardinals will have a short turnaround as the team faces #8 seed Toccoa Falls on Thursday (May 23) at 10:00am. The team will complete pool play on Friday, May 24 at 1:00pm versus #9 seed Ecclesia College.
