LISLE, Ill. – The Falcons fell in heartbreaking fashion on Wednesday night. The Concordia Wisconsin baseball team opened the Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Baseball Tournament on Wednesday against the host Eagles of Benedictine. The Falcons led late but fell, 7-12.
Benedictine started the scoring on Wednesday with a double to center field in the second inning.
The Falcons responded in the third inning with a double from junior Connor Lasch (Chicago, Ill.) that scored senior Brandon McCray (Corona, Calif.) to tie the game.
A ground out in the fourth inning gave the Eagles the lead back in the fourth inning a 2-1.
Benedictine bumped the lead to 5-1 with four runs in the top of the seventh.
Freshman Jack Anzelmo (Appleton, Wis.) started the comeback with a solo home run.
The Falcons kept clawing back and used small ball to their advantage and a Brandon McCray sacrifice bunt plated senior Matt Miller (Fredonia, Wis.).
The Birds returned to the long ball with another home run, this time a pinch-hit home run from freshman Mick Vagner (Crown Point, Ind.) that tied the game when junior Jason Valdez (Glendale Heights, Ill.) also scored.
Benedictine took back the lead with a run in the eighth inning.
The Falcons tied the game once more when Connor Lasch scored on a wild pitch and a sacrifice fly for Jason Valdez gave Concordia the lead when Jack Anzelmo scored.
The Eagles scored five runs in the ninth inning to take the lead for good.
Connor Lasch led the Falcons with four hits on Wednesday.
Senior Nick Barksdale (Walnut Creek, Calif.) was strong in the start and had six strikeouts in the start in three innings pitched.
Benedictine advances to play on Thursday and will play Concordia Chicago.
The Falcons end the year at 19-20.
