(Kansas City, MO) – The Concordia Cardinals baseball team is making their fourth consecutive appearance in the NCCAA World Series this weekend as they earned the No.2 seed for the tournament. This year's rendition of the World Series will transition away from pool play to a more traditional double-elimination bracket. The Cards will have the first day of the tournament off as they wait to see who they will face off against in the second round of the tournament. 

Game Information

#2 Concordia Cardinals vs. Winner of #7 Kansas Christian / #10 Asbury

May 21 | 1:00 pm | Motley Field | Kansas City, MO

Live Video ($) | Live Stats | Bracket | Tournament Page

About the No. 7 Kansas Christian Falcons

The Falcons, from Overland Park, Kansas, finished the regular season with an overall record of 32-16 and come into the tournament as an At-Large bid from the Independent Region. 

The Kansas Christian offense is headed off by Cole Henley as he has a .344 batting average throughout the season with 35 runs, nine doubles, and three home runs. CL Stacker leads the team with five home runs on the season. Henley also leads the team with 45 RBIs. 

Leandro Mendez and Brilynn Stults lead the pitching staff as they both have seven wins in the campaign as Stults has a 2.70 ERA and Mendez has a 3.87. Another category that Mendez leads the team in is strikeouts as he has 93 on the season, while Jose Ballista is second on the team with 49 strikeouts on the season.

The Falcons are coached by Tony Hurla who is in his third season as coach and has a 69-42 record.

About the No. 10 Asbury Eagles

Asbury, from Wilmore, Kentucky, enters the NCCAA World Series with a record of 28-14 overall and are the Mideast Regional Representative.

Walker Paris is pacing the Eagles offensively with a .494 batting average and a 1.414 OPS. He also leads the team in all other main offensive categories such as; hits, doubles, home runs, and RBIs. Kaden Dugle and Kaiden Zacharias are each hitting .370 and .324 respectively on the season as Dugle adds six home runs and 25 RBI, while Zacharias has nine home runs and 37 RBIs. 

Meanwhile, the pitching staff is headlined by Alec Lush and Paris Walker with seven and six wins respectively. Holten Handel is leading the ERA department for the team with a 3.99 ERA. Lush and Jackson Cole lead the team with 77 and 54 strikeouts respectively. 

Manny Cervantes is in his eighth season as the Eagles coach with an overall record of 175-174.

About the No. 2 Cardinals

Concordia finished the regular season with a record of 36-20 overall and 13-9 in the WHAC. 

The CUAA offense is led by James (Jimmy) Wressel who leads the team with a batting average of .392 on the season, while also leading the team in hits, doubles, and RBIs. Last month, Wressel also set the record for most RBIs and doubles in a single season. Jordan Sherman and Aaron West have 60 and 59 hits respectively on the season as well. Jarrett Batanian leads the team with eight home runs, with Sherman, West, and Wressel behind him with seven. 

The pitching staff is headlined by Timothy Pomaville who has a record of 8-0 on the season with a 3.71 ERA while striking out 49 batters. Tyson Kleinfelter is another key member of the staff with a season record of 6-6 with 68 strikeouts. Kleinfelter surpassed the career strikeouts record earlier last month. Alex Phillips leads the team with a 2.61 ERA in 20.2 innings. 

The Cardinals are coached by Zach Johnston who is in his 8th season with CUAA and has been able to lead the team to a 257-159 record.

In Case You Missed It (Previous Matchups)

The Cardinals have made four consecutive trips to the NCCAA World Series. Last season saw the Cardinals fall in pool play where they went 1-3, picking up a win against College of the Ozarks. 

2019 was a different story for CUAA, as the Cards would advance through pool play with a 3-1 record, and would move on to bracket play. The Cards would pick up a win against College of the Ozarks in the Semi-final round before facing off against Warner for the Championship. Throughout a close game, the Cards would score six runs in the eighth inning before coming away with a 6-2 win. The Championship would be the first in program history. 

About the Rest of the Field

Taking over the top spot in the World Series is Southwestern Assemblies of God University from Waxahachie, Texas. The Lions come into the series with an overall record of 36-14 and are the winners of the NCCAA Central Region. They are coached by Matthew Cornacchione. 

The third overall seed falls to the University of Northwestern from St. Paul, Minnesota. Entering as the North Central Regional Representative, the Eagles enter the tournament with a record of 24-14 overall. They are coached by Dave Heib in his 27th season. The Eagles will face off against Southwestern Christian in the third game of the tournament. 

Mid-America Christian University, located in Oklahoma City, Oklahoma, received the fourth overall seed as they are one of the four at-large members of the tournament this season. Coached by Brett Stanton, the Evangels arrive at the tournament with a 31-20 overall record. They will face off against the University of Fort Lauderdale on Friday. 

The University of Fort Lauderdale is in its first year as a program and enters the tournament as the fifth overall seed. The Eagles will enter the tournament with a 32-25 record this season. Fort Lauderdale is coached by Billy Glessner in his first season. 

Southwestern Christian University, from Bethany, Oklahoma, comes into the tournament as the sixth overall seed this season after winning an at-large bid. The Eagles have a 26-25 record coming into the World Series after taking second in last year's World Series. Joe Blackwell has managed the team for eight seasons and taken them to the NCCAA World Series in six consecutive years. 

The eighth seed in this year's tournament from Winston-Salem, North Carolina, is Carolina University as they won the South Region over Fort Lauderdale. The Bruins are fresh off of a run to the NCCAA World Series Semifinals last season and this season where they finished 36-13. Head Coach Jamie Lowe is in his third season at the helm for the Bruins. 

Carolina University will be squaring off against ninth-seeded College of the Ozarks, from Point Lookout, Missouri, on Friday. The NCCAA Independents Champion comes into the World Series with a 31-20 record on the season. The Bobcats are led by Neale Richardson, now in his eighth season with the team. 

2022 NCCAA World Series Schedule