Madonna and Concordia Come up Short in NAIA Baseball Opening Round
KANSAS CITY, Mo. - Concordia and Madonna came up a little short in their respective 2023 NAIA Baseball Opening Round brackets. Both teams won their respective opening games.
Concordia played its way through the consolation bracket to face Lewis Clark State (Idaho) in the championship game of the Lewiston bracket. The Cardinals finish the season with a 48-10 record and as the winningest team in program history.
CONCORDIA (2-2)
(game recaps courtesy of CUAA Sports Information)
Concordia def. Science & Arts (Okla.), 11-7
The Cardinals drew first blood after Drew Fleming plated Aaron West with an RBI double in the top of the third. Tyson Kleinfelter worked his way out of a jam in the bottom of the third, stranding a pair.
In the bottom of the fourth the Drovers scored three runs to take the lead, but the Cardinals stormed back to reclaim the lead in the top of the sixth. Curtis Townsend drove in the first two runs with a single through the right side before John Markiewicz laid down the safety squeeze to bring home Jarrett Batanian to give the Cardinals the lead. The Cardinals scored another run on an error to go up by three.
Evan Jasiak came in for Kleinfelter in the sixth inning and allowed four runs as USAO regained the lead. Peyton McDowall hit a bases clearing triple off of the batter's eye to put the Drovers on top.
The Drovers didn't stay on top for long, as the Jarrett Batanian smacked a two-run shot over the right field fence for the fifth lead change of the game in the top of the seventh.
Trey Acker came in to pitch for 1.1 innings, only allowing a pair of baserunners. Aaron West and Kyle Hebner tacked on insurance runs with singles in the top of the ninth to improve the Concordia advantage to four.
Drew Fleming closed out the game for the Cardinals, recording the final five outs for the save. Evan Jasiak was credited the win for Concordia.
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) def. Concordia, 5-4
Timothy Pomaville started on the mound for the Cardinals and went six innings, giving up four runs while striking out four. Kenneth (Dave) Rozmys and Evan Jasiak both pitched an inning in relief, with the former giving up a lone run, which proved to be the winning run for the Warriors.
Both starting pitchers went two innings without giving up a hit, and only gave up one in the first three.
The Cardinals drew first blood in the top of the fourth when Jarrett Batanian legged out an infield single which scored the courtesy runner, Tyler Wressel. Batanian and Jordan Sherman scored later in the inning off of an error to give Concordia a three-run lead.
The Warriors loaded the bases in the bottom half of the fourth, which led to an Isaiah Thomas grand slam to give Lewis-Clark the one run advantage. Jordan Sherman had a chance with a pair of runners on in the top of the fifth, but hit a fly ball to the left field warning track for the final out of the inning.
It was then Jarrett Batanian who evened things up at four a piece in the top of the sixth with a solo shot to right field.
The Warriors loaded the bases again in the bottom of the sixth, but Pomaville struck out Nick Seamons to get out of the jam. Kenneth (Dave) Rozmys relieved Pomaville in the seventh inning. The reliever gave up the lead in the bottom of the inning on a single to left center, and was ultimately tagged with the loss for the Cardinals.
The Cardinals were held scoreless in the final three innings, preserving the lead for the Warriors and leading to Lewis-Clark State's 5-4 win.
Concordia def. Science & Arts (Okla.), 10-4
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.
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.
Lewis-Clark State (Idaho) def. Concordia, 19-7
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 LC State.
MADONNA (1-2)
(game recaps courtesy of MU Sports Information)
Madonna def. St. Francis (Ill.), 9-6
After a scoreless top of the first inning, the Crusaders jumped on the Saints with a two-run home run to left field by Brady Krzciok. Madonna extended their lead to 6-0 with four runs in the bottom of the third thanks to RBI singles by Matt Staelgraeve and Jace Matkin and an RBI double by Zachary Beadle. Nick Krol also recorded an RBI in the inning after being hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, allowing Staelgraeve to score.
Madonna scored another run in the seventh to make the score 7-0 after a wild pitch. The Saints got two runs back in the top of the eighth, however in the bottom half Matkin seemed to put the game out of reach with a two-run bomb the other way. Trailing 9-2 in the top of the ninth, USF tried to mount a comeback with four runs, but couldn't dig themselves out of the hole as the Crusaders secured the victory.
Riley Vermander (6-3) picked up the win on the mound after throwing seven shutout innings and striking out six.
Southeastern (Fla.) def. Madonna, 3-2
Nate Blain held the No. 1 Fire scoreless through the first two innings, before Southeastern broke through in the bottom of the third with a solo home run. For the first five innings, the Crusaders were shutout by Southeastern starting pitcher and University of Virginia transfer Robb Adams. Madonna finally broke through in the top of the sixth, as Alex Garbacik blasted a two-run home run to give the Crusaders the 2-1 lead and fire up the dugout. With no one out Madonna had the opportunity to add insurance runs in the sixth, but unfortunately were unable to scratch anymore runs across.
Trailing 2-1, the Fire responded in the bottom half of the sixth with a run. Following a leadoff triple, Southeastern tied the game at 2-2 after scoring on a fielder's choice. Southeastern then hit the go-ahead solo home run to take a 3-2 lead in the bottom of the seventh. Reece Wissinger then came in during the top of the eighth inning and got the final five outs for Southeastern, allowing the Fire to escape with the win.
Central Methodist (Mo.) def. Madonna, 5-3
The teams traded runs in the first inning. Madonna loaded the bases in the top of the first inning and Matt Staelgraeve came through with a two-run double to give the Crusaders a 2-0 lead. CMU got a run back in the bottom half of the inning with an RBI double to make it 2-1.
From there, both teams failed to score until the sixth inning. The Eagles scored two runs in the bottom of the sixth inning with a pair of RBI singles to take a 3-2 lead.
The Crusaders didn't back down however, as an RBI single by Anthony Sharkas brought home Alex Garbacik tied things at 3-3 in the top of the eighth. Unfortunately, the Eagles hit a two-run go-ahead home run in the bottom of the eighth to take a 5-3 lead and ultimately claim the victory.