GLENDALE, Wis. / MEQUON, Wis. (naccsports.org) --- Fifth-seeded Marian University and sixth-seeded Edgewood College took very different paths to victory Wednesday afternoon as the 2025 Northern Athletics Collegiate Conference (NACC) Baseball Tournament got underway with opening round games.
The Sabres needed just one hour and 49 minutes to score a 2-0 victory over No. 8-seed Concordia University Wisconsin, while the Eagles needed three hours and 17 minutes and three extra innings to sideline No. 7-seed Rockford University by a 9-8 score in 12 innings.
Edgewood and Marian advance to the double-elimination portion of the tournament, which continues Thursday with four games at MSOE Raiders Stadium in Glendale, Wisconsin.
2025 NACC Baseball Tournament
Thursday, May 8
Game 1 - No. 6 Edgewood vs. No. 3 Concordia Chicago, 10 a.m.
Game 2 - No. 5 Marian vs. No. 4 Benedictine, 1 p.m.
Game 3 - Game 1 winner vs. No. 2 Aurora, 4 p.m.
Game 4 - Game 2 winner vs. No. 1 MSOE, 7 p.m.
Game A - No. 5 Marian 2, No. 8 Concordia Wisconsin 0
Marian recorded just two hits but made the most of them in a game played at CUW's Kapco Park. The Sabres scored the opening run of the game on James Bornick sacrifice fly in the third inning, then tacked on an insurance run on a Robbie Knorr sacrifice fly in the eighth inning.
CUW's best early scoring opportunity came in the second inning when Connor Lasch and Brynden Cleveland led off with back-to-back singles. However, Marian turned a timely double play to escape the threat.
Marian opened the third inning with Gus Walker drawing a walk. Walker then moved to third on a Logan Rademan single and a Knorr sacrifice bunt before scoring on Bornick's sacrifice fly to right field.
Lasch and Cleveland again posted back-to-back singles in the fourth inning but the Sabres turned another double play to get out of the frame.
In the eighth inning, Rademan reached on a one-out single through the left side, then moved third on a wild pitch before scoring on a Knorr sacrifice fly.
Tanner Alsteen scattered seven hits and a walk while striking out three in a complete-game effort for Marian (21-19).
Zach Slome took the hard-luck loss for the Falcons (20-20), allowing just two hits, two walks and a hit batter while striking out six in 7-1/3 innings. Lasch had a game-high three hits, while Cleveland added two for CUW.
Game B - No. 6 Edgewood 9, No. 7 Rockford 8 (12 innings)
Trailing 8-3 at the seventh-inning stretch, Edgewood rallied for five runs over the next three innings to force extra innings. The Eagles (20-20) eventually came away with the win courtesy of a walk-off RBI single by Ryan Ambrosy in the 12th inning.
The Regents plated a pair of runs in the top of the first inning to take a quick 2-0 lead. Jake Bilotta led of the game with an infield single, and then Joseph Stagowski blasted his NACC-leading 14th home run over the left field wall to give the Regents a two-run advantage.
Edgewood cut the lead in half with a run in the second on a Dominic Lee RBI groundout.
The score remained unchanged until Rockford posted its second two-run inning of the game in the top of the fourth. Following a single and two quick outs, Zach Duke laced a clutch RBI double down the left field line to extend Rockford's lead to 3-1. One batter later, Bilotta made it a 4-1 game with his second hit of the day, this one an RBI single back up the middle.
Edgewood scored single runs in the fourth and fifth innings to cut the lead to one, but Rockford rebounded for three runs in the sixth and another in the seventh keyed by a Bilotta two-run homer to push the lead to 8-3.
The Eagles rallied for four runs in the seventh off two-run hits from Jacob Carney and Brevin Brisack. A Terry Toliver Jr. RBI single in the eighth tied the game at 8-8.
Relief pitchers Kris Hahn of Edgewood and Zach Fabis of Rockford were effective in extra innings, but both started to show signs of wear in the 12th inning. In the top half of the frame, Bilotta reached on a one-out double down the right-field line. Stagowski then reached on a walk but Edgewood was able to get out of the inning when Stagowski was retired at second base on a ball hit up the middle by Fabis. Bilotta was then thrown out at home for the third out.
Brisack drew a walk to open the bottom of the 12th, then moved to second on a sacrifice bunt. A single and an intentional walk loaded the bases for Ambrosy, who singled to left to score Brisack from third for the game-winning run.
Hahn picked up the win, allowing just one run while scattering six hits and four walks while striking out six over the game's final six innings.
Fabis took the loss, allowing two runs (one earned) while scattering six hits and a pair of walks over 4.1 innings.
Brisack and Colby Davis each had three hits to lead Edgewood, while Bilotta led Rockford with four hits, three RBIs, and two runs scored.