(Kansas City, MO) – The Concordia Cardinals baseball team is back in the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) World Series. This is the Cardinal's fifth appearance at the World Series having won the tournament twice previously in 2019 and 2022. 

The tournament features 10 teams from across the country the teams have to battle through a double-elimination bracket to become the champions. The Cards will await the results of a play-in between College of the Ozarks and Columbia International to see who their first opponent will be.

Game Information

#2 Concordia Cardinals vs. Winner of #7 College of the Ozarks & #10 Columbia International University | May 18 | 6 PM | McGuff Field

Live Video ($) | Live Stats

ABOUT THE BOBCATS

The College of the Ozarks Bobcats enter the tournament as an at-large bid and enter with a 27-22 overall record. They come into the tournament as an At-Large Selection from the Central Region.

Three Bobcat hitters have recorded 50 hits on the year, led by Chuck Hill, Tyas Rush, and Spencer Greene with 60, 56, and 52 respectively. Rush leads the team with a 0.378 batting average. Green leads the team with 7 home runs and 48 RBIs. 

Brody Baumann has tallied seven wins this season with Rhett Hill and Weston Whiteside each with five. Baumann is the team leader in ERA at 2.79 this season over 77.1 innings and 68 strikeouts.  

College of the Ozarks is coached by Neale Richardson who has been with College of the Ozarks since 2014 and has a record of 275-221. 

ABOUT THE RAMS

The Columbia International Rams are the South Region Champion and have a 22-33 overall record on the season. 

The Ram offense is led by Scott McDonough who has a 0.378 batting average, 56 hits, and 12 home runs on the season. James Lovera has totaled 48 hits this season with 30 RBIs and a team-high 22 stolen bases. 

The Rams' pitching staff is headed by Deric Hanko with five wins this season, while Collin Otte has recorded a 2.86 ERA over 34.2 innings this season. Darius Hatchette-Dunn has tallied 47 strikeouts this season over 47.1 innings.

Columbia International is coached by Jonathan Johnson who is finishing his fifth season with the Rams with a record of 109-133. 

ABOUT THE CARDINALS

The Concordia Cardinals enter the tournament as the Midwest Region Representative with a 40-14 overall record.

The Cardinal offense is headed by Drew Fleming and Logan Hylek who have 77 and 74 hits respectively. Fleming leads the team with 29 home runs, 73 RBIs, and a 0.428 batting average. Josh Burke is second on the team with eight home runs. 

Three Cardinal pitchers have six wins on the season with Bryon Mane, Kenneth (Dave) Rozmys, and Trey Acker all hitting that mark. Rozmys leads the team with an ERA of 1.41 on the season and 53 strikeouts. Owen Johnson is second on the team with five wins. 

The Cardinals are coached by Zach Johnston who is in his 10th season with Concordia and has a 350-184 overall record. 

LATEST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE

The Cardinals were last in the tournament in 2022 when they finished 41-21 and took home the NCCAA World Series title. 

The Cardinal went 5-1 in the 2022 tournament taking down Asbury (8-6), before falling to Northwestern (14-7). The Cardinals would then battle through the elimination bracket taking down Kansas Christian (14-3), Fort Lauderdale (18-5), Northwestern (6-1), and took down Fort Lauderdale (13-3) for the second World Series title in Cardinal history. 

In the title game, Mackenzie Martin started and went two innings in the game before Timothy Pomaville came to close the game out, pitching the final seven innings with 13 strikeouts. The offensive side of the ball saw the Cardinals hit seven doubles. Justin Kozlowski hit 3 RBIs, while Aaron West, Jimmy Wressel, and Kyle Hebner each grabbed two RBIs. 

REST OF FIELD

The top-seeded Oakland City University is the Mideast Regional Champions and has an overall record of 41-16 on the season. 

The #3 seed University of Fort Lauderdale comes into the tournament as an at-large selection and has a 38-14 overall record. 

The #4 seed Wayland Baptist University is the Central Region qualifier and has recorded a record of 23-28 this season. 

Mission University comes into the tournament as the #5 seed as they are the Independent Champion and have a 32-20 record this season. 

Southwestern Christian University is the sixth seed as they are an at-large selection with a 28-23 overall record. 

Trinity Christian is the #8 seed in the tournament and is the North Central Region Representative and is 23-26 this season. 

The #9 seed is Kansas Christian College, the tournament's host team, and has a record of 29-22. 

2024 NCCAA World Series Schedule

*Lower seed will play in Game 17 and higher seed will play in Game 16. Higher seed is defined as team with a seed value closer to one.

**Loser Game 17 if WG13 loses G17. Loser Game 18 if WG13 wins G17 and loses G18.