(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 sixth appearance at the World Series having won the tournament twice previously in 2019 and 2022. 

The tournament features 10 teams from across the country and 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 Mission University and Arlington Baptist University to see who their first opponent will be.

Game Information

#2 Concordia Cardinals vs. Winner of #7 Mission University  & #10 Arlington Baptist University| May 17 | 6 PM | McGuff Field

Live Video ($) | Live Stats | Bracket

ABOUT THE MU PATRIOTS

The Mission University Patriots enter the tournament as an at-large bid and enter with a 34-20 overall record. 

The Patriots are led by Brennan Montgomery and Sam Golden who have hit .366 and.359 respectively. Trey Mulholland, Carter Vienhage, and Dylan Boehm are all hitting better than .300 on the year as well. Mulholland leads the group with 61 hits while Montgomery and Boehm follow close behind with 59 and 58 hits. Montgomery leads the team with 11 home runs, while Mulholland is top on the team with 43 RBIs.

Mulholland is top on the team also on the pitching side with 7 wins, while Josh Buxton and Jackson Vestal have six and five respectively. Buxton has the best ERA among qualified pitchers at 3.96 while Ryan Congemo has a 2.63 ERA out of the bullpen.

The Patriots are coached by Randy Merryman who has been with Mission University since 2021 and has a record of 113-108.

ABOUT THE ABU PATRIOTS

The Arlington Baptist Patriots are the Independents Champion and have a 37-14 overall record on the season. 

The Patriots offense is led by Alex Aleman who leads the team with a .427 batting average. Four other qualified hitters have an average over .350 with Francisco Ochoa (.388), Layne Wilkerson (.373), Jacob Ovalle (.362), and JP Mendoza (.355) all hitting that mark. Ochoa and Major Cantrell lead the group with 69 and 66 hits respectively. Ochoa also leads the group in home runs and RBIs with 9 and 57. 

The Patriots' pitching staff is headed by Corbyn Torti who's recorded 11 wins this season while Ryan Mendiola and Alex Aleman both have five wins. Mendiola has an ERA of 3.53 this season, while Eddie Moreno has a 2.11 ERA out of the bullpen. Torti leads the team with 86 strikeouts this season. 

Arlington Baptist is coached by Brad Bass who is in his fourth season with the Rams with a record of 65-37. 

ABOUT THE CARDINALS

The Concordia Cardinals enter the tournament as the Midwest Region Representative with a 43-11 overall record, earning the #2 seed in the World Series.

The Cardinal offense is led by Jake Kuhlman who has a team-high 73 hits (8th highest in NCCAA) and 51 stolen bases which is tied for the most in the NCCAA. Josh Burke brings power to the lineup with 19 home runs (3rd in NCCAA) and 68 RBI (5th in NCCAA). Concordia has 11 hitters with over 40 at bats that have at least a .400 On Base Percentage including Kuhlman, Burke, Harrison Ryan, Tyler Wressel, Matthew Dubrick, Justin Kozlowski, Derek Hebner, Alex Piotrowski, Clayton McKinstry, Gus Simon, and Kyle Hebner. 

Four Cardinals have started eight or more games for the team and have at least four wins including Trey Acker, Bryon Mane, Logan Morris, and Drew Murphy. Blake Weaver, Kenneth (Dave) Rozmys, Landen Harris, and Ryan VanSlambrouck were the most utilized arms out of the bullpen, each making 15 or more appearances this season.

The Cardinals are coached by Zach Johnston who is in his 11th season with Concordia and has a 394-197 overall record. 

LATEST TOURNAMENT APPEARANCE

Concordia qualified for the 2024 iteration of the NCCAA World Series, similarly to this year, as the second seed. The Cardinals won their first matchup over the #7 College of the Ozarks, but then fell to the eventual champions, Southwestern Christian the next day in a close 9-8 game. They would eventually bow out of the competition with a 9-7 loss to Columbia International the next day. 

REST OF THE FIELD

The top-seeded Oakland City University is an At-Large Selection and has an overall record of 37-14 on the season. 

The #3 seed University of Fort Lauderdale comes into the tournament as the South Region qualifier selection and has a 38-13 overall record. 

The #4 seed Jessup University is the West Region qualifier and has recorded a record of 30-19 this season. 

Campbellsville University comes into the tournament as the #5 seed as they are the Mideast Region Champion and have a 35-22 record this season. 

Southwestern Christian University is the sixth seed as they are an Central Region representative with a 34-16 overall record. 

Judson University is the #8 seed in the tournament and is the North Central Region Representative and is 23-21 this season. 

The #9 seed is Kansas Christian College, the tournament's host team, and has a record of 25-17. 

2025 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.