LISLE, Ill. (naccsports.org) --- Seventh-seeded Concordia University Wisconsin picked up its second win in as many days to advance in the double-elimination phase of the 2024 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Baseball Tournament.
The Falcons, who advanced to the main tournament draw with a 9-6, 10-inning win over sixth-seeded Edgewood College on Wednesday, needed to wait out a four-hour rain delay before posting a 5-1 win over fourth-seeded Illinois Institute of Technology late Thursday evening.
Eighth-seeded Rockford also pulled an upset during the single-elimination portion of the tournament Wednesday afternoon, posting a 10-4 win over fifth-seeded Marian University. The Regents, however, were stifled by No. 3-seed and tournament host Benedictine, 11-6, on Thursday.
Thursday (double elimination)
No. 3 Benedictine 11, No. 8 Rockford 6
Benedictine grabbed a 4-1 lead after one inning on RBI doubles from George Betevis and DeShawnte Carraway and an RBI single from David Rubin, then tacked on three more on a three-run blast by Brennan Fisher in the second inning.
Jared Herzog hit solo home runs in the third and fifth innings to make it a 7-4 ballgame, but Betevis and Carraway repeated their first-inning efforts in the sixth with back-to-back RBI doubles. This time, however, Rubin capped the stretch with a two-run homer to left to make it 11-4 in favor of Benedictine.
Jake Bilotta hit a two-run home run in the ninth for Rockford, but the Regents would get no closer.
Bilotta, Herzog, and Cobi Cooper each had two hits to lead Rockford, while Fisher, Betevis, and Rubin each had two hits and three RBIs.
Conner Kendall picked up the win, scattering seven hits and two walks while striking out seven over six innings. Dan Dombrowski allowed two runs on two hits while striking out three en route to a three-inning save.
Nate Burdin was touched up for seven runs on seven hits in two innings of work and was tagged with the loss.
No. 7 Concordia Wisconsin 5, No. 4 Illinois Tech 1
CUW's Cole Aguirre broke open a scoreless game with a monster home run to right field in the fourth inning, then tacked on a run in the fifth on a Sterling Armstrong RBI double, and three more in the sixth on a Conner Lasch RBI single and a Cody Maier two-run double.
Illinois Tech avoided the shutout when Michael Lindenmuth scorred on a Matthew Bove sacrifice fly to left field in the seventh inning.
Tyler Bartczak allowed just one run on two hits and three walks while striking out 10 in 6-1/3 innings to get the pitching win for CUW. Chris Rooney scattered two hits and a walk while striking out two over the final 2-2/3 innings to get the save.
WIth two hits apiece, Samuel Sproule and Bove accounted for all four of Illinois Tech's hits.
Aguirre and Kyle Flynn each had two hits for CUW.
Illinois Tech starting pitcher Cameron Bracewell allowed five runs on eight hits and two walks while striking out nine over seven innings to take the loss.
Wednesday (single elimination)
No. 8 Rockford def. No. 5 Marian, 10-4
Kadin Bergstrom went 3-for-5 with two home runs, four RBIs, and two runs scored to lead the Regents to the upset victory.
Rockford broke a 2-2 tie with four runs in the third inning on an RBI double from Joseph Stagoski, an RBI single by Alex Perez, and a two-run blast by Bergstrom.
The Regents tacked on another run in the fifth on Bergstrom's second homer of the day.
Marian scored runs in the fifth and seventh innings only to be countered by Rockford on a Stagowski sacrifice fly in the sixth and a Bergstrom RBI single and a Zach Fabis sacrifice fly in the eighth.
Enrique Melendez also had three hits for Rockford.
Paul Turelli pitched into the seventh inning, scattering four runs on five hits and three walks while striking out seven.
Leadoff hitter Jacob Kleemann was the only Sabre with multiple hits.
No. 7 Concordia Wisconsin def. No. 6 Edgewood, 9-6 (10 innings)
Edgewood grabbed an early lead with six runs in the second inning and looked to be heading toward a run-rule victory, but Concordia Wisconsin chipped away at the advantage over the final seven innings of, scoring one in the fifth, two in the eighth, and three in the ninth to tie the game at 6-6 to force extra innings.
In the 10th inning, the Falcons got back-to-back one-out singles from Jordan Vasquez and Cole Aguirre and Matt Miller drew a two-out walk to load the bases before Kyle Flynn cleared them with a triple to left center to give CUW a 9-6 lead. In the bottom half of the inning, CUW reliever Luke Bruckner retired the side in order to end the game.
Vazquez, Aguirre, Jimmy Juergensen, Miller, and Connor Lasch each had two hits for the Falcons, who held a 14-8 advantage overall. Flynn drove in a game-high three runs while Juergensen and Lasch had two RBIs apiece.
Kyle Sagan had three of Edgewood's eight hits, including a two-run double in the second inning.
Schedule Adjustments
Persistent rain throughout the Lisle area Thursday afternoon forced tournament officials to adjust the remaining tournament schedule. Two games originally slated for Thursday were moved to Friday morning as Benedictine will face No. 2-seed Aurora University at 10 a.m. followed by Concordia Wisconsin against top-seeded Milwaukee School of Engineering.
Rockford will then face Illinois Tech in an elimination game at 4 p.m. Friday before the day closes with another elimination game at 7 p.m. between the losers of the day's first two games.
2024 NACC Baseball Tournament
SINGLE ELIMINATION
Wednesday, May 8
GAME A - #8 Rockford 10, #5 Marian 4 (at Benedictine)
GAME B - #7 Concordia Wisconsin 9, #6 Edgewood 6 - 10 Innings (at Aurora)
DOUBLE ELIMINATION
(All Games at Benedictine)
Thursday, May 9
Game 1 - #3 Benedictine 11, #8 Rockford 6
Game 2 - #7 Concordia Wisconsin 5, #4 Illinois Tech 1
Friday, May 10
Game 3 - #3 Benedictine vs. #2 Aurora, 10am
Game 4 - #7 Concordia Wisconsin vs. #1 MSOE, 1pm
Game 5 - #8 Rockford vs. #4 Illinois Tech, 4pm (ELIMINATION GAME)
Game 6 - Game 3 Loser vs. Game 4 Loser, 7pm (ELIMINATION GAME)
Saturday, May 11
Game 7 - Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Winner, 10am
Game 8 - Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner, 1pm (ELIMINATION GAME)
Game 9 - Game 8 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser, 4pm (ELIMINATION GAME)
Sunday, May 12
Game 10 - Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner, 11am (CHAMPIONSHIP GAME ONE)
Game 11 - Game 10 Winner vs, Game 10 Loser (if necessary), 30 minutes following