(Marion, IL) - Concordia baseball traveled to Marion, Illinois for a neutral site matchup against Olivet Nazarene at Mtn Dew Park over the weekend. The Cardinals' offense exploded in the first three games before falling in a close matchup in the season finale.
GAME 1 – CUAA 23, ONU 7
The Cardinals started off the weekend on Friday afternoon with Trey Acker on the mound. Acker was able to turn in five innings for CUAA, only allowing two unearned runs on four hits. Drew Murphy pitched the final two frames allowing one earned run.
ONU started off the game with two unearned runs in the bottom of the first to take the lead. The next two innings were quiet before CUAA responded with five runs in the fourth inning. Alex Piotrowski got things started by bringing home a run on a fielder's choice. Derek Hebner then pinch hit and came through with a bases clearing triple to score Matthew Dubrick, Harrison Ryan, and Piotrowski. Gus Simon then tacked on the fifth run with a SAC bunt.
In the fifth inning, the Cardinals were able to tack on ten more runs to take a commanding lead. RBI's from Justin Kozlowski, Harrison Ryan, Tyler Lawson, Jake Kuhlman, and Tyler Wressel on a handful of extra base hits and walks gave the Cardinal pitching staff what they needed to finish the game.
Seven more runs were put up in the sixth inning for CUAA. Alex Czyzewski tripled to center field to score two, and Ty Schornak then brought him home with his first career hit for the Cardinals. Tyler Wressel followed that with his second home run of the game before Alex Piotrowski hit his first home run of the year. A pinch hit Darren Pagel home run, for his first CUAA hit, gave the Cardinals their 23rd and final run. ONU responded in the seventh inning with five runs of their own, but it was not enough and CUAA took the first game of the series.
GAME 2 – CUAA 14, ONU 8
Game two of the series started off with some offensive firepower for both teams. Tyler Wressel brought in Clayton McKinstry on a single to begin the scoring, before Josh Burke hit a three run homerun to give CUAA a 4-0 lead. The bottom of the first saw ONU respond with five of their own runs. A single to right field from Aden Aukland opened their scoring, while a double to left field from Evan Pigioli gave them two more runs. Two bases loaded walks gave them a 5-4 lead heading into the second inning.
In the second inning, Gus Simon brought home Tyler Lawson and Harrison Ryan to regain the lead. Jake Kuhlman and Tyler Wressel added onto the lead with RBI's of their own. ONU knotted the game back up at 8 in the bottom half of the frame with three hits from the bottom of their lineup. Gus Simon quickly responded in the top of the third, with a two-run double scoring Piotrowski and Ryan.
Piotrowski and Derek Hebner added extra base hit RBI's in the sixth inning along with a Jake Kuhlman sac-fly in the seventh to give CUAA 14 runs in the game.
Ryan VanSlambrouck settled things for CUAA in the bottom of the third, turning in a big shutout inning before handing the ball over to Kenneth (Dave) Rozmys. Dave turned in four shutout innings to give CUAA the win and etched himself in Cardinal history as the all-time career saves leader.
GAME 3 – CUAA 14, ONU 1
Bryon Mane took the mound for game one of day two in his home state of Illinois, and did not disappoint, giving up one earned run through five innings while compiling seven strikeouts. Kyle Winslow and Ethan Pollard came on for an inning each in relief, both returning to the dugout giving up zero runs.
Kyle Hebner hit home Gus Simon to open the game in a big two-strike at bat to give them the early lead. Harrison Ryan drove Josh Burke home in the second inning with a hit to right field. Derek Hebener followed that up with another big pinch hit to bring home Ryan and give CUAA the 3-0 lead heading into the third inning. Jake Kuhlman scored in the third inning on a passed ball. Tyler Wressel then drove home Garrett Williams on a triple and Burke followed that up with a single to score Clayton McKinstry. Andy Onnen responded with an RBI single in the bottom part of the frame to make the score 6-1 CUAA after three innings.
Kyle Hebner hit Simon and Kuhlman home in the fourth inning. Tyler Wressel then hit another home run to give them a big 10-1 lead after four innings. Piotrowski and Alex Czyzewski both hit RBI doubles in the later innings to add insurance for CUAA and give them the eventual 14-1 lead.
GAME 4 – ONU 4, CUAA 3
Evan Jasiak started game four on the mound, giving up three earned runs through 3.1 innings pitched. Landen Harris followed that up with a strong 2.2 innings of shutout ball to give CUAA a chance in the later innings.
The game opened in the first inning with a Kyle Hebner SAC fly to score Gus Simon. ONU responded in the bottom of the third to knot the game up at 1 a piece on a Jack Dupuis single. Josh Burke added another SAC fly to give CUAA a one run lead, before Olivet Nazarene responded with three runs to take a 4-2 lead after four innings of play.
Jake Kuhlman doubled in the fifth inning to right field in the fifth inning to put the game within reach for CUAA. The final frame saw Harrison Ryan hit by a pitch to bring up the top of the order with two outs. Gus Simon hit a deep fly ball to the left field fence, but a great play from the ONU defense ended the game and they were able to avoid the sweep.
Concordia will now travel to Spring Arbor University on Tuesday, March 4th for a neutral site matchup against Goshen.
