The seventh-ranked Case Western Reserve University baseball team suffered a 5-0 loss to the University of Lynchburg in the early game on Saturday before bouncing back with an 8-3 win over Alvernia University to set up a rematch with the Hornets for the regional championship at Nobby's Ballpark in Cleveland on Sunday.

The Spartans, who improved to 33-10 for the season, will need to beat Lynchburg twice on Sunday to advance to the Super Regional round of the NCAA Division III Championship for the first time in program history. The first game is scheduled for an 11:00 a.m. start with the second game, if necessary, slated to begin 45 minutes after the first game ends.

In addition to the team achievement, several Spartans hit significant statistical milestones during the two games on Saturday. First-year left-handed pitcher Quinn Saunders struck out six batters in the first game, giving him 80 for the season to match the program's single-season record set by former Spartan Evan Faxon in 2022. Graduate student first baseman Dane Camphausen and senior designated hitter Zack Carinci each reached 200 hits for the career in the second game, Camphausen with a second-inning single, and Carinci with an RBI single in the seventh.

The Spartans found themselves on the brink of elimination after falling to Lynchburg in the first game of the day and needed a win over Alvernia in the late contest. The Golden Wolves took the early lead in the game with a pair of runs in the bottom of the second, but CWRU halved the lead in the top of the third on an RBI groundout by graduate student third baseman James Powers that scored junior left fielder Logan Andreyko. Alvernia added a run in the top of the third, but that would be all that junior right-handed pitcher Kyle Gearding would allow in his four innings, surrendering three runs on six hits and two walks with three strikeouts.

Senior right-handed pitcher Tyler Horvath entered the game in the bottom of the fifth and went on to retire the first nine batters he faced in order, giving the Spartans a chance to launch a comeback. The CWRU bats came to life in the top of the sixth, scoring four runs on five hits to take their first lead of the day. Junior right fielder Nick Harms started the inning with a double and a single by Camphausen put runners on the corners. Graduate student second baseman Franco Alonso followed with a squeeze bunt to score Harms and cut the lead to one, and first-year third baseman Tyler Stillson singled to score Camphausen and even the score at 3-3. Carinci then laid down the Spartans' second successful squeeze bunt of the inning to plate Alonso and give CWRU its first lead of the game. A successful double steal and a passed ball allowed Stillson to score and gave CWRU a 5-3 lead heading into the top of the sixth.

CWRU added to its lead in the seventh with an RBI double from Stillson, a run scored by Alonso on a wild pitch, and an RBI single from Carinci.

Horvath, who earned the win to improve to 2-0 on the season, closed out the game, finishing with five shutout innings. He yielded just two hits and a walk while striking out seven in the effort.

CWRU totaled 14 hits in the game with Camphausen finishing three-for-five with two runs and Stillson going three-for-four with a double, a steal, two runs, and two RBIs. Graduate student center fielder Jack Anderson added a two-for-five game with a pair of doubles, while Alonso and Carinci both registered two hits in the contest as well.

Alvernia starter Jason Kelly suffered the loss, ending his season with a 3-1 record. The Golden Wolves saw their season come to a close with a 29-18 overall record.

The offensive outburst late in the game against Alvernia was much needed for the Spartans, who were shutout for the first time since March 30, 2023, in the loss to Lynchburg, and went 15 innings from the fifth inning of their game on Friday against Alvernia to the third inning of Saturday's game against the Golden Wolves without scoring a run. CWRU left 13 men on base in the loss to the Hornets in the early contest on Saturday.

Lynchburg scored an unearned run in the first inning and added three in the sixth and one in the seventh. The Spartans had their chances to break through, but left the bases loaded in both the first and seventh innings and left two men on base in the second.

Saunders pitched well in his first career postseason start, holding the Hornets to just the one unearned through the first five innings, before a wild pitch and a two-run home run in the sixth extended the Lynchburg lead to 4-0. He issued a leadoff walk to start the seventh that eventually came around to score before leaving the game, ending his outing with five runs (four earned) allowed on six hits and a walk with six strikeouts, suffering his first loss to drop to 5-1 for the season.

First-year Zach Barnes pitched the final two innings, allowing a hit and a walk with one strikeout.

Anderson went two-for-five in the game while Powers, Camphausen, Alonso, and Stillson each added hits for CWRU.

Lynchburg starter Nick Mattfield scattered six hits and three walks over six and a third innings to earn the win and raise his record to 6-2 for the season. Austin Riney retired the only batter he faced in the game and Colin McGuire went the final two and a third innings to pick up his fourth save of the year.

More information on the Cleveland Regional, including live stats and streaming video links for tomorrow's games, can be found at the tournament website.