(Auburndale, FL) – Concordia baseball competed in a doubleheader against Fitchburg State College on Friday afternoon. The Cardinals entered 13-3 overall while Fitchburg State came in 3-4. CUAA claimed a pair of wins before the WHAC announced the cancellation of the remainder of the 2020 season due to coronavirus.

Game 1 – CUAA 5, Fitchburg State 0

Billy Blair (JR/St. Charles, MI) started on the mound for the Cardinals, pitching 6 innings with 7 strikeouts. Blair recorded 3 strikeouts in the top of the 1^st, and a Vann Acker (SR/Eaton Rapids, MI) sacrifice fly in the bottom half of the inning scored Victor Diaz (SR/Guarenas, Venezuela ) to put CUAA up 1-0.

Neither team scored from the 2^nd through 4^th innings with Billy Blair adding 3 more strikeouts. The Cardinals extended their lead in the 5^th after Calvin Syrjala (JR/Greenville, MI) scored on a wild pitch and Matthew Botti (SR/Decatur, MI) reached home later in the inning.

The Concordia defense turned a double play in the top of the 6^th. Grant Steinborn (SR/Flushing, MI) used an RBI double in the bottom of the 6^th to score Vann Acker, and a sacrifice fly from Calvin Syrjala drove in pinch runner Jake Moyer (SO/Hartland, MI).

Brendan Lyons (SR/Woodhaven, MI) came on to pitch in the top of the 7^th, securing three strikeouts to end the game and complete the 5-0 shutout.

Game 2 – CUAA 8, Fitchburg State 7

Concordia batted as the visiting team in the second game. Grant Steinborn started on the mound, pitching 4 innings in the contest. Fitchburg State plated 2 runs in the bottom of the 2^nd to take a 2-0 lead.

The Cardinals stormed back with a 5-run 3^rd inning. Grant Steinborn started things off with a 2-RBI double, scoring Vann Acker and Ryan Kotecki (FR/Jenison, MI). Jordan Sherman (SO/Homer, MI) drove in pinch runner Jake Moyer with an RBI single, and Adam Purdy (SR/Lima, OH) used an RBI single to score Sherman. Preston Sherman (SR/Homer, MI) finished scoring with an RBI single driving in Purdy and CUAA led 5-2 after the 3^rd.

Concordia extended their lead with 3 runs in the 4^th. Chris Lowe (SR/DeWitt, MI) hit an RBI single to score Victor Diaz, Grant Steinborn doubled to drive in Lowe, and Jordan Sherman singled to score Jake Moyer. However, Fitchburg State fought back with 5 runs in the bottom of the 4^th to limit the Cardinal advantage to 8-7.

Kane Bourbina (SR/Saginaw, MI) pitched the 5^th and 6^th innings for Concordia as neither team drove in any more runs. Joey Stasa (SR/Battle Creek, MI) came in to finish the game in the 7^th, securing the final strikeout in the victory.

The WHAC has announced that all future 2020 spring sports are now canceled in an effort to limit the spread of the coronavirus.