(Ann Arbor, MI) Concordia Baseball concluded their regular season last weekend, winning their program first WHAC Regular Season Championship. The Cardinals finished with a conference record of 26-5 and a 43-6 overall record, which was a program high in wins. As the regular season champs, the team earned the top seed in the WHAC tournament and was awarded a host site. The Cardinals will host the fifth and sixth seeds in the tournament which will be Indiana Tech and Lawrence Tech. The double elimination tournament will begin on Thursday morning with the first game set to take place at 9:00 AM.
First Round, May 4-5
Location A - #2 Madonna, #3 UNOH, #4 Aquinas (Madonna hosts)
Day 1
Game 1: #3 UNOH vs. #4 Aquinas, 9:30 a.m.
Game 2: #2 Madonna vs. Game 1 loser, 1 p.m.
Game 3: #2 Madonna vs Game 1 winner, 4:30 p.m.
*Day 2 May 5 (if ALL teams have 1 loss)
Game 4: #4 Aquinas vs #3, 1 p.m.
Game 5: #2 Madonna vs Game 4 winner, 4:30 p.m.
*Day 2 May 5 (if one team is eliminated Day 1)
Game 4: 2-0 Team vs 1-1 Team, 1 p.m.
Game 5: if necessary, 4:30 p.m.
Location B - #1 Concordia, #5 Indiana Tech, #6 Lawrence Tech (Concordia hosts)
Day 1- May 4
Game 1: #5 Indiana Tech vs. #6 Lawrence Tech, 9 a.m.
Game 2: #1 Concordia vs. Game 1 loser, noon
Game 3: #1 Concordia vs Game 1 winner, 3 p.m.
*Day 2 May 5 (if ALL teams have 1 loss)
Game 4: #6 vs #5, 11 a.m.
Game 5: #1 Concordia vs Game 4 winner, 2 p.m.
*Day 2 May 5 (if one team is eliminated Day 1)
Game 4: 2-0 Team vs 1-1 Team, 11 a.m.
Game 5: if necessary, 2 p.m.
Championship Site (Best of 3 game series)
Day 1 May 8
Game 1: Pool A winner vs Pool B winner
Day 2 May 9
Game 2: Pool B winner vs Pool A winner
Game 3: if necessary, Coin flip for Home/Visitors
Automatic Bids to NAIA Opening Round
1. Regular season champion
2. Tournament champion (Tournament runner-up if #1 and #2 are the same)
About the #5 Indiana Tech Warriors
The Warriors are led by Kip McWilliams, now in his 16th season. The team went 32-15 overall, while going 18-12 in the WHAC. Indiana Tech swept their two-game series against Lawrence Tech on March 26th, winning 3-2 and then 15-0. When playing the Cardinals this season, the Warriors were swept in Ann Arbor, falling 1-12 and 2-8. Outfielder Tyler Stahl and Shortstop Jayden Reed lead the team at the plate with batting averages of .342 and .333 respectively. Ryan Troxel led the Warriors on the hill with a 7-2 record through 55 innings pitched.
About the #6 Lawrence Tech Blue Devils
Stan Elridge is now in his 9th season at the helm for the Blue Devils. The team went .500 overall, finishing the season at 24-24, while going 17-13 in conference. The Blue Devils lost a pair of games to Indiana Tech in the regular season, by scores of 2-3 and 0-15. They hosted Concordia for a four game series at the end of the season, and went 1-3 against the Cardinals. The Blue Devil backstop Jason Earhardt leads the team with a .412 batting average. Outfielders Nick Olsen and Joel Stirnemann bring power to the lineup, with both accumulating over 40 RBI on the year.
