(Lewiston, ID) The Concordia Cardinals went 1-1 in their first two games of the NAIA Opening Round, presented by Avista, resulting in a rematch against Science & Arts on Wednesday afternoon. The Cardinals put up 10 on the Drovers, while Bryon Mane and Kenneth (Dave) Rozmys kept the Drover lineup in check for the win. The Cardinals then played the host team, Lewis-Clark State, and fell 7-19 to bow out of the NAIA Opening Round with a 2-2 record and second place finish in the bracket.
Game 1: Concordia 10, Science & Arts 4
Bryon Mane started on the bump for the Cards, going a full five innings while giving up four runs and striking out a pair on his way to his fourth win of the season. Kenneth (Dave) Rozmys came in to pitch the final four innings, and blanked the Drovers, getting credit for his second save of the campaign.
In the bottom of the first, Drew Fleming hit a shot over the bleachers in left field which was called foul. A few pitches later Fleming cranked another one, this time fair and into the bleachers to put the Cardinals up 2-0 after the first.
The Drovers responded a half inning later, getting a run back, but the Cardinals improved their lead to four in the bottom of the third. Aaron West got things started with a lead off home run, followed by a 2-RBI double from Jarrett Batanian to bolster the Concordia advantage.
The fourth inning saw both teams plate a run, with Concordia's coming by way of Kyle Hebner's sacrifice bunt. Science & Arts tacked on a pair of runs in the top of the fifth to get the deficit to two runs. James (Jimmy) Wressel and Jarrett Batanian both hit doubles in the bottom of the fifth to get one of those runs back for the Cardinals.
Aaron (AJ) Brazelton hit a lead off double in the bottom of the sixth and later scored on a double play to make it a four-fun game for the Cards.
In the bottom of the eighth, Drew Fleming hit his second two-run shot of the game to put Concordia up by six, which is where they would finish the game at.
Game 2: Concordia 7, Lewis-Clark State 19
Six different pitchers went for the Cardinals in the game as Drew Murphy started the game and was relieved by Trey Acker, Taishin Matsushita, Evan Jasiak, Drew Fleming, and Billy Blair.
The Warriors opened up the game with a strong top of the first, plating a trio of runs for an early lead. The Cardinals got one back in the bottom of the inning by way of a James (Jimmy) Wressel infield single.
Concordia evened the game up in the bottom of the third with back-to-back solo shots from Kyle Hebner and Drew Fleming.
Lewis-Clark State responded in a big way with five runs in the top of the fourth by way of a Charlie Updegrave grand slam. Drew Fleming answered back in the bottom of the inning with a grand slam of his own to pull Concordia back within one.
A ball that snuck through the left side for the Warriors added on a run in the top of the fifth to move the margin up to two. Dominic Signorelli then hit a three-run homerun to increase the Warrior lead to six. A pair of Warrior runs scored in the top of the eighth inning off of a failed pick off attempt and compounding errors to make it an eight-run game. Sam Olsson drove in two with a double, followed by an Isaiah Thomas two-run homer in the top of the ninth to make it twelve for Lewis-Clark State.
With the loss, the Cardinals will conclude their 2022 campaign as the winningest team in program history with 48 victories on the season.
