MEQUON, Wis. – It was all smiles for the Concordia Wisconsin baseball program on Saturday as it celebrated senior day against Illinois Tech. The Falcons brought out the brooms with a pair of seven-inning mercy-ruled games. The Blue and White improved to 19-16 on the year and 11-9 in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference with the 12-2 and 11- 1 victories.
The Falcons broke down the doors in the second inning with six runs.
Senior Josh Aguiniga smashed the ball to shortstop, that scored junior Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.) and sophomore Connor Lasch (Chicago, Ill.).
Sophomore Alex Ames (Plymouth, Wis.) then sent the ball to shortstop once again to plate senior Tyler Brandenburg (Saukville, Wis.).
Senior Kyle Flynn (Downers Grove, Ill.) sent the ball to right field to land Josh Aguiniga on home plate with a sacrifice fly.
Freshman Graham Kasten (Mequon, Wis.) cleared the bases with a no-doubt home run to right field to also score senior Jack Owens (Chicago, Ill.).
The Scarlet Hawks got a run back with a home run next to the left field foul pole in the third inning.
Josh Aguiniga got a run back in the bottom of the third inning with a double to left field that scored Connor Lasch.
IIT struck again in the fourth inning with a run on a single up the middle.
Graham Kasten struck again in the sixth inning on a sacrifice fly to left field, and Alex Ames scurried home.
Kyle Flynn scored on a throwing error as he took third base.
Tyler Brandenburg closed the sixth-inning scoring with a single to left field to send Connor Lasch home.
Senior Brynden Cleveland (Crestwood, Ill.) singled through the right side of the infield to score Kyle Flynn in the seventh.
Connor Lasch ended the game with a single to right field that sent Graham Kasten across home plate.
Senior Jack Hribernik (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) earned the victory on the mound and had four strikeouts.
Sophomore Alex Kuntz (Richfield, Wis.) ended the game with two strikeouts.
Connor Lasch had three hits and three runs in game one.
Josh Aguiniga got the ball rolling for the Falcons in the second inning of game two with a single into right-center field that scored Matt Miller.
In the third inning, Tyler Brandenburg singled through the left side of the infield to plate Connor Lasch.
The fourth inning was rough on Illinois Tech pitchers, in an inning with five different pitchers.
Graham Kasten was walked with the bases loaded to score freshman Gavin Crellin (Phoenix, Ariz.). Connor Lasch then plopped the ball to right field to send in Kyle Flynn and Alex Ames.
Matt Miller closed the fourth-inning scoring with a single into right-center field to score Graham Kasten.
In the fifth inning, Graham Kasten had another sacrifice fly to left field that allowed Alex Ames to score.
Connor Lasch then cleared the bases with a double on the right-field line that scored Brynden Cleveland and Kyle Flynn.
The lone IIT run came in the sixth inning on a double steal.
Gavin Crellin got the run back in the bottom of the inning with a double to centerfield that scored Matt Miller.
The game ended in the seventh inning on a bases-loaded walk to Tyler Brandenburg that allowed sophomore Luke Heinkel (Brookfield, Wis.) to trot across home plate.
Senior Owen Burns (Morris, Ill.) silenced the Scarlet Hawks on Saturday in his fourth victory with five strikeouts. Senior Chris Rooney (Mundelein, Ill.) also had two strikeouts in one inning.
Matt Miller stole three bases in game two.
Connor Lasch had three hits in the victory.
Before today's games, the Falcons honored the senior class of 2025 in Josh Aguiniga, Tyler Brandenburg, Luke Bruckner, Owen Burns, Brynden Cleveland, Kyle Flynn, Jake Hartley, Jack Hribernik, Arthur Liebau, Jack Owens, Chris Rooney, Zach Slome and Matthew Ward.
The Falcons look to secure a spot in the NACC Tournament on Tuesday at St. Norbert.
