RIVER FOREST, Ill. – The Concordia University Wisconsin baseball team closed out its regular season on Friday with a crucial doubleheader against Concordia Chicago.
Needing at least one win to clinch a spot in the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Tournament, the Falcons delivered in game one with a 9-7 victory. The Cougars responded in game two with an 11-1 in seven innings win to split the series.
With the results, CUW ends the regular season at 20-19 overall and 12-12 in NACC play.
The Falcons struck first in the opening inning. Sophomore Connor Lasch (Chicago, Ill.) drove in Luke Heinkel (Brookfield, Wis.) on a sacrifice fly after Heinkel reached on a single and stole second.
CUW added two more in the second. Junior Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.) led off with a single and scored on a double from senior Josh Aguiniga (Chicago, Ill.). Sophomore Alex Ames (Plymouth, Wis.) followed with a two-out RBI single to push the lead to 3-0.
Concordia Chicago responded with one run in the second and two more in the third to tie the game, 3-3.
The Falcons regained the lead in the fourth, loading the bases and scoring via an RBI walk from freshman Graham Kasten (Mequon, Wis.) and a wild pitch, making it 5-3. However, CUC answered with four runs in the bottom half to go up 7-5.
After a scoreless fifth, CUW surged ahead in the sixth. Kasten tied the game with a ground-rule double, Brynden Cleveland (Crestwood, Ill.) gave the Falcons the lead on a sacrifice fly, and Miller added another run after reaching on an error.
Freshman Gavin Crellin (Phoenix, Ariz.) provided insurance in the eighth with an RBI double to cap the scoring at 9-7.
On the mound, senior Jack Hribernik (Menomonee Falls, Wis.) threw 3.1 innings before turning it over to senior Chris Rooney (Mundelein, Ill.), who tossed two scoreless frames with three strikeouts. Junior Nikolai Nawracaj (New Lenox, Ill.) earned the win in relief, while senior Luke Bruckner (Fond du Lac, Wis.) and sophomore Alex Kuntz (Richfield, Wis.) closed the door. Kuntz earned his first save of the season with four strikeouts over the final two innings.
At the plate, Heinkel had a career day with three hits. Kasten, Miller, and Crellin each added two hits. Kasten also drove in two runs, while Heinkel, Miller, and Crellin each swiped a base. CUW played error-free defense and out-hit the Cougars 13-10.
The Cougars jumped out early with four runs in both the first and third innings to take an 8-0 lead.
CUW got on the board in the fourth with a sacrifice fly from freshman Colyn Lessila (Germantown, Wis.), but CUC answered again with three more runs in the fifth to secure an 11-1 win.
Kasten, Cleveland, senior Tyler Brandenburg (Saukville, Wis.), and sophomore Jason Valdez (Glendale Heights, Ill.) all recorded hits for the Falcons.
On the mound, senior Owen Burns (Morris, Ill.) went 2.2 innings with one strikeout. Senior Matthew Ward (East Dundee, Ill.) struck out three over 2.1 innings, and senior Arthur Liebau (Mequon, Wis.) finished the game with a clean sixth, retiring three of four batters faced.
From here, the Falcons will now look ahead to the NACC Tournament, where they will be the eighth seed and take on the fifth-seeded Sabres of Marian University. In the regular season, the Falcons and Eagles played to a split.
Fortunately for the Falcons, they will play on their home turf for this single-elimination matchup, as the conference predetermined that Concordia University Wisconsin and Kapco Park would host the five-versus-eight seed game.
That contest is scheduled for Wednesday, May 7 at 4:00 p.m. in Mequon.
