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| No. 2 Shenandoah advanced to the 2023 ODAC Tournament championship series with a 5-3 win over Roanoke Friday afternoon at the University of Richmond. Shenandoah (38-6) rallied with four runs in the seventh inning to eliminate the Maroons (28-17) from tournament elimination. Earlier Lynchburg defeated Shenandoah 13-5 Friday to earn their spot in the ODAC championship game. The Hornets pummeled Shenandoah with runs in six different innings and with extra-base hits from Benton Jones, Eric Heitt, and Carrson Atkins. Roanoke eliminated Randolph Macon earlier 10-3. Shenandoah athletics photo |
If you want to be the best, you have to beat the best. And that's just what the John Carroll has done over the past two days. As the #4 seed in the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament, the Blue Streaks shutout the #1 seed and #7 ranked team in the country Baldwin Wallace on Thursday, and now beat the #2 seed Marietta Pioneers, 10-8, en route to a berth in the OAC Championship. The feat marks only the third time that the Blue Streaks have advanced to the OAC Championship series, having also done so in 1998 and 2014. Top seeded Baldwin Wallace made an early exit with two losses. The last came at the hands of the Polar Bears of Ohio Northern who won 5-3 in 11 innings. ONU had no more magic in the elimination bracket finale with Marietta. Marietta earned the right to a rematch with JCU with a 7-1 win.
No 1 seed Immaculata and No. 2 seed Cabrini survive and advance to the Atlantic Each Championship Round of the Baseball Tournament. In three games on day two, No. 4 Neumann started the day with a victory over No. 3 Marymount in a 9am elimination game. The Knights had a strong offensive showing to defeat and eliminate Marymount with a 7-1 win. The winners from Wednesday faced off in game two, with the top seeded Mighty Macs coming out on top. 9-2. In the third game and a must win between No. 2 Cabrini and No. 4 Neumann, the Cavaliers took the win 9-4 to advance to Saturday.
Fifth seed Mass. Maritime rallied from a 5-0 deficit to defeat sixth seed Fitchburg State 7-5 in an elimination game of the 2023 Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament at Bowditch Field. Bridgewater State advanced to the championship round as the second-seeded Bears posted a 7-6 victory over #1 Framingham State on Friday afternoon at Bowditch Field. The Bears (31-11), who tied the program record with their 31st win of the season, will play either Framingham State or #5 seed Massachusetts Maritime Academy on Saturday afternoon at two o'clock in the championship round. The Rams (26-14) will take on the Buccaneers in an elimination game on Saturday morning at ten.
Day two of the 2023 United East tournament saw two teams eliminated while the top two seeds punched their ticket to the final day of the tournament. Penn College dropped Lancaster Bible College in the day’s first tilt, 14-4. The Chargers went up 4-0 over the first 3.5 innings but from then on it was all Wildcats. Penn College took their first lead in the bottom of the fourth, sending across six runs and then doubled that with a six run fifth inning. They’d sprinkle two extra insurance runs in the seventh and eighth frames to help eliminate Lancaster Bible from the postseason. Penn College would later bookend the day with a 10-7 victory over Penn State Abington. The Wildcats would hold their first lead since the opening inning as they made it 7-6 in the fifth but one stanza later, Abington cashed in four runs 10-7. Both teams would add a run in the seventh and Abington seemed to all but put things away with a five-run top of the ninth. Penn College made a solid attempt at a comeback though, registering six runs but with the tying run at the plate, they weren’t able to complete the comeback. Between those two contests Penn State Harrisburg took down Penn State Abington to seal their spot in Saturday’s matchup.
The #4 seed California Lutheran Kingsmen will play for a third consecutive SCIAC Tournament title after posting an 8-3 victory over #3 Chapman in the winner's bracket on Friday afternoon. The Kingsmen jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the top of the first inning via a bases-loaded walk and wild pitch. Chapman tied things up with a run in each of the second and third innings. Cal Lutheran surged back ahead by three on another bases-loaded walk and two-run single by First Team All-SCIAC second baseman Zach Lafata. Second Team choice Luke Wechsler continued to subdue the Panthers bats as he lasted eight innings, with Clay Rickerman recording his second save in as many days. Top-seeded La Verne Leopards advanced to the second elimination game with a 12-8 victory over #2 seed Claremont-Mudd-Scripps. The hosts jumped out to a 4-0 lead in the bottom of the first inning and built up their margin by as many as nine runs en route to the win. CMS pulled back within four in the top of the seventh, but La Verne First Team closer Benny Vogel got a key strikeout to escape a bases-loaded jam.
Day two of the American Rivers Conference Tournament saw third-seeded Loras advance to the championship game of the double elimination tournament by virtue of the winner’s bracket. Top-seeded Buena Vista, who fell to Loras 9-6 in the day’s first game, advanced to Saturday, where they will face No. 5 University of Dubuque in an elimination game. Following game six of the tournament, where No. 3 Loras knocked off No. 1 Buena Vista, No. 2 Luther College and fourth-seeded Coe College squared off in the tournament’s second elimination game (Game 7). The Norse stayed alive with a 4-1 victory. Luther turned around to face fifth-seeded Dubuque in another elimination game (Game 8), where the Spartans came out on top by a score of 3-2.
The top-seeded Anchormen scored three unanswered runs to overcome and early 2-0 deficit and remain alive in the 2023 LEC Baseball Championship Tournament, eliminating third-seeded Southern Maine by a final count of 3-2. RIC got on the board in the bottom of the fifth when Cam Santerre drove in Izaiah Rivera with a bases-loaded single to left, and the Anchormen drew even in the seventh as David Iannuccili scored from third as Lucas McElroy reached on a bases-loaded fielder’s choice. Santerre advanced to third on that play before heading home on Cal Parrillo’s single to the gap in left with the game-winning run. Josh Eastman managed to hold the Spartans to just one run as he scattered nine hits while striking out eight over seven innings of work, and the Beacons’ offense took care of the rest to keep UMass Boston’s season alive with a mercy-rule 13-1 victory in Game 8 of the 2023 LEC Baseball Championship Tournament. The defending LEC champion Warriors (33-10) won an 8-5 slugfest to eliminate the 2023 LEC regular season champion Anchormen (30-13), and advance to the championship round of the 2023 LEC Baseball Championship Tournament for the third consecutive season. Eastern Connecticut will take on fourth-seeded UMass Boston Saturday at noon at RIC’s Pontarelli Field, needing just one more victory to retain the LEC tournament crown.
No. 4 Endicott and No. 18 Salve Regina will face off on Saturday, May 13 in the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship Round. The Gulls are in the driver's seat as the undefeated team in the double-elimination tournament. First pitch is scheduled for noon with the "if necessary" game to follow if needed. These two teams opened Day 3 of the CCC Tournament in a matchup between the two highest nationally-ranked team in conference history to determine who would be the undefeated team heading into the final day of the championship. The Seahawks led 7-4 heading into the bottom of the seventh before the hosts scored three to tie it. The top-seeded Gulls hit a walk-off home run in the 10th to secure their spot in the Championship Round with a 8-7 win. Day 3 continued with an elimination game between No. 4 seed Roger Williams and No. 5 seed Western New England. The Hawks were victorious, 3-2, earning them a rematch of their Day 2 matchup with the Seahawks. However, Salve Regina would once again have the advantage, winning 12-6, to earn the other spot in the CCC Baseball Championship Round.
Saint Vincent picked up a pair of victories to stay alive in the 2023 Presidents' Athletic Conference Championship Tournament and advance to the tourney's championship round on Saturday against host and top seed Washington & Jefferson. In the opener, Michael Klingensmith threw 8.2 stellar innings on the mound, while SVC racked 15 hits enroute to a 7-4 victory over Westminster (Pa.). In game two, the Bearcats came back from an early 3-1 deficit to earn a 3-6 victory over Grove City. The Bearcats racked 14 hits, including eight for extra bases, and broke the game open with nine runs over the sixth and seventh innings. With the two wins, Saint Vincent will take on W&J in the championship round at 1 p.m., and will need to beat the Presidents twice in order to earn the PAC crown and advance to the NCAA DIvision III Regionals. Sophomore shortstop Jacob LaDuca's led off the 10th inning with a solo home run to propel the Washington & Jefferson into the Presidents' Athletic Conference finals. The home run finished off a 4-3 comeback victory for the Presidents over second seeded Grove City in tournament action Friday afternoon at Ross Memorial Park. The dramatic opposite field blast gave W&J's its 11th straight win in Presidents' Athletic Conference Tournament play. The win was the 30th of the season for W&J. The Presidents have reached 30 wins in 12 different seasons during head coach Jeff Mountain's tenure.
Sophomore Jack Kelly tossed a complete game to guide top-seeded St. Joseph's University-New York (L.I.) to a 4-2 win over fifth-seeded United States Merchant Marine Academy on day one of the Skyline Conference Championship tournament. This marks the 28th win of the year for the Golden Eagles which breaks the single-season win record set in the 2008 and 2018 seasons. Maritime earned a spot in the Skyline winners bracket with a 10-6 win over Purchase. Like it has have done all season long, Purchase earned a win when it needed it most Friday afternoon, besting the United States Merchant Marine Academy in a do or die matchup, 9-7. The Mariners managed to score one run apiece in the seventh and eighth innings, and Tyler Della Mura pounded out an RBI-double in-between to make the margin 9-7 in the top of the eighth. It was at that point that head coach Adam Taraska called on his breakout closer, Jemal Betances to secure the game by recording the final out of the eighth and all three outs in the ninth. Betances did just that for his eighth save of the year, sending the Panthers home with new life heading into tomorrow.
Middlebury won the battle of the No. 2 seeds with a 7-6 win and No. 1 seed Tufts defeated No. 4 seed Bowdoin 13-6 on the first day of the NESCAC Championship weekend at Coombs Field on the campus of Colby College. The second day of action begins at 10:30 a.m. with Colby facing Bowdoin in an elimination game. Middlebury plays Tufts at 2 p.m. in a winner’s bracket contest. In the opening game of championship weekend, Colby took a quick 5-0 lead in the top half of the opening frame and held the lead through five innings. Middlebury’s Mitchell Schroeder homered in the bottom of the ninth to knot the game up, 6-6, and Sammy Smith scored on a balk call to plate the game-winning run. Tufts plated eight runs in the bottom of the second inning to take a 9-0 lead over Bowdoin in Game 2 of the NESCAC Baseball Championship weekend. The Jumbos extended their lead to 13-5 over the Polar Bears with three more runs in the bottom of the fifth to ease to the team’s 28th win of the year.
Tufts hitters knocked out six extra-base hits in the contest.
Three teams remain after the second day of the SUNYAC championship tournament concluded on Friday at Cortland's Robert H. Wallace Field. In the first game of the day Brockport beat Cortland, 6-1. Adam Douglas got the start and the win on the mound for Brockport. He threw 7.1 innings with seven strikeouts, allowing just one earned run on nine hits. Teammate Matthew Colucci finished out the final 1.2 innings, striking out two batters on the way to earning the save. With a 2-run lead going into the ninth, the Green and Gold would extend the lead on the scoreboard. James Houlahan hit a lead-off single and was moved over to second thanks to a sacrifice bunt by Johnny Genau. Nicholas Pastore knocked an RBI single to left field to score Houlahan. Now with a 4-1 advantage, Brockport continued to add cushion in the final inning. Indek connected for an RBI single in his lone at-bat, bringing Eldred in to score. A throwing error by Cortland on the play allowed Pastore to come home as well, creating the final score of 6-1. Oswego eliminated Oneonta with a 9-6 win in 11 innings in the second game.
The No. 3 seed Scranton (25-14) plated three runs in the first and never looked back en route to a 16-3 victory over the No. 2 seed Catholic Cardinals (26-10) in an opening round game at the Landmark Conference Tournament on Friday night at Volpe Field in Scranton. Senior right-hander Daniel Johnson tossed a career-high 7 1/3 IP in the victory for the Royals, allowing three runs on five hits to go along with four walks and five strikeouts. Johnson fired seven scoreless to begin his night and notched the 16th win of his career, which is tied for the second-most in program history alongside Bobby Della Polla (2010-13). With the victory, Scranton advances to battle No. 4 seed Susquehanna. Susquehanna proved that seeds are just numbers in its opening-round game Friday against top-seeded Elizabethtown in the Landmark Tournament, shelling the Blue Jays with an eight-run fourth inning on the way to a 12-3 victory.
The second day of the 2023 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference tournament wrapped up on Friday, with the No. 1 seed Franklin making it through day two unscathed in tournament play, while No. 2 Transylvania and No. 5 Anderson are still alive, vying for a shot at the HCAC Championship. In the first game of the day, an elimination game, the No. 5 seed Anderson sent the No. 3 seed Bluffton packing, to the tune of an 8-6 Ravens win. The second game elimination game of the day No. 4 Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology sent the No. 6 seed Manchester University packing. The Fightin’ Engineers put up 10 runs to the Spartans four to advance in the tournament. Game three returned to the winners bracket, where the No. 1 seed Franklin took care of business against No. 2 Transylvania, securing the 7-3 win to keep the Grizzlies undefeated. In the final game of the night, No. 5 seed Anderson met the No. 4 seed Rose-Hulman, with the Ravens coming out on top, 6-3, ending the Fightin’ Engineers run in the tournament.
No. 1 seeded Augustana defeated the No. 2 seeded North Central Cardinals by a 7-4 final on Friday to advance to the CCIW Championship for the second straight season. Augustana built a 7-4 cushion entering the ninth. With two runners on in the top of the inning and nobody out, Addison Southwick entered the game, striking out one before getting out of a bases-loaded jam with back-to-back outs to earn the save. Anthony Sus earned the win after entering the game in the fifth, pitching 3.1 innings with three strikeouts and allowing zero runs. Simon, Maifield, and McGinnis each had three hits to lead the Vikings' 12-hit effort. With the win, Augie moves to 37-6 on the season and secures their 19th consecutive victory. Augustana will face No. 5 seeded Illinois Wesleyan for the first time in the tournament in Saturday's championship contest for the CCIW title. The Cinderella story continues for five-seed Illinois Wesleyan won its third straight elimination game in two days to punch its ticket to the CCIW Tournament championship series. IWU defeated the second-seeded North Central College Cardinals by the final score of 7-5 to advance. Earlier in the day, the Titans dispatched Millikin 5-4. The Green and White will need to defeat the host, the top-seeded and 17th-ranked, Augustana College Vikings twice tomorrow to claim the CCIW Tournament Championship and the league's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament.
Ithaca will play for its second straight Liberty League title tomorrow as the Bombers defeated RIT, 12-4, on Friday afternoon at Castle Diamond. The Bombers produced 17 hits on the day and stole seven bases as all nine batters recorded at least one hit in the win. Ithaca is now 27-14 on the season and will face RIT on Saturday. Senior Jon Opalewski threw a complete game and struck out five as the Tigers eliminated Rochester 12-3 and punched a ticket for a rematch with Ithaca on Saturday. Sophomore outfielder Adam Marsh went 3-for-4 with three RBI in the victory. IC will need just one victory to earn its second consecutive automatic bid to the NCAA Division III Championship. In the opening game of the day Rochester defeated Skidmore 9-5.
Facing elimination on Friday, Gustavus rose to the occasion with a thrilling 3-2 walk-off win over Saint John’s followed by a dominant 15-6 win over Concordia to advance to the MIAC playoff championship game for the second consecutive season. The Gusties (28-13) will face Bethel (28-10) at 3 p.m. tomorrow and need two wins for the MIAC playoff title and berth to the NCAA tournament. Bryce Novak was the story of the day, getting the walk-off hit in the bottom of the ninth versus Saint John’s, followed by a 7-for-7 performance at the plate against Concordia, setting a MIAC single game record. The previous record was held by Gustavus Athletics Hall of Famer Brad Mazer, who went 6-for-7 against Carleton on April 8, 2000. Novak’s seven-hit game also ties the NCAA Division III single game high this season. The fourth-seeded Bethel beat third-seeded Concordia-Morehead 3-0 Friday afternoon in the MIAC semifinals to secure a spot in Saturday's MIAC Championship. On the bump for the Royals, Ty Koehn got the start and threw an impressive seven shut-out innings with one walk and three strikeouts, earning his fourth win of the season. Blake Williams earned his fifth save of the year, finishing off the last two innings for the Royals with no walks and one strikeout.
Top-seeded and No. 11-ranked Denison hit three home runs and improved to 2-0 at the 2023 North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament with a 10-4 win over the No. 2 seed, Wittenberg, on Friday. The Big Red will now advance to the NCAC Tournament Championship game on Sunday seeking their fourth straight conference tournament title. In the top of the sixth inning, Wittenberg got to within run one of the Big Red (5-4) after a two-run double and had the tying run just 90 feet away with one out before Ari Fierer moved from his designated hitter spot to the mound and got a 4-6-3 double play to escape the inning with a one-run lead. Denison answered the two-run double for the Tigers by doubling up Wittenberg at 8-4. Noah Leib added a towering two-run home run just fair down the right field line to make it 10-4 in the bottom of the eighth inning. For the second game in a row, George Viebrock pitched two shutout innings to finish off the contest and this time, pitched two perfect 1-2-3 innings. Wabash saw their season end at the hands of Wooster as the Scots won 7-6 to advance in the elimination bracket. The Tigers earned themselves a spot in the tournament championship, and a rematch against the Big Red, after a marathon 15-9 win over Wooster in game 4 that went final at 2:00 a.m. courtesy of two hours, 15 seconds in rain delays. With the win, Wittenberg will face Denison for the NCAC crown.
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| Designated hitter Shane Stossel (pictured) hit a two-run home run in Lebanon Valley's 6-4 victory over Alvernia on Friday, giving the club a 1–0 lead in the best-of-three MAC Commonwealth Championship Series at McGill Field. Lebanon Valley (27-15-1) picked up a comeback victory in game one behind a four-run sixth inning, which gave the club a lead it wouldn't relinquish. Lebanon Valley athletics photo by Julie Beidler |
Keystone advances to the CSAC Championship as they defeated Wilson 14-7 Friday afternoon in the team's second game of the CSAC Tournament. struck out six in his outing. Logan Lixie (Tamarac, Fla./J.P. Taravella) appeared in the ninth and struck out one. The bats for the Giants were hot right out of the gate as they totaled 11 runs in the first three innings of the game which included five runs in the third. They out hit the Phoenix, 16-9. No. 3 seed Cairn won, 13-12, in extra innings against No. 4 seed Saint Elizabeth in round two of the CSAC Tournament on Friday afternoon. With the win, Cairn advances to the CSAC Semifinals tomorrow, and Saint Elizabeth is eliminated. Tyler Fox led the Highlander offense with a five-for-six day at the plate, followed by Sam Spadea with three hits (including two homers) and a team-high four RBIs. With those two homers, Spadea officially set the new single-season program record for home runs with 11, breaking 2022 graduate Brian Amantia Jr's record set just last year. Spadea also got the win on the mound in relief, moving to 5-1 on the year after hurling the final three innings and striking out three. With Keystone advancing to the championship, they will face the winner of Wilson and Cairn at 3 p.m. The Phoenix and Highlanders will square off in an elimination game at 11 a.m. to decide who will be playing in the conference championship.
- Photo gallery: Gustavus Adolphus vs. St. John's
- Photo gallery: Concordia-Moorhead vs. Gustavus Adolphus
Top seeded Arcadia moved one win away from its second consecutive MAC Freedom Championship after defeating No. 2-seeded Misericordia by a 6-2 final in game one of the Championship Series at Skip Wilson Field on Friday afternoon. The Knights broke the game open in the bottom of the sixth on a sacrifice fly from Donchez, a run-scoring single by Massielo, and a two-run double off the bat of Alex Madera. Carson Denham earned the victory, allowing one run on six hits with two walks and one strikeout over seven innings. Nadell Booker pitched the final two innings, allowing an unearned run on four hits.
For a while Friday, it didn't look like UW-Superior was going to get its game in. Rainy weather in southern Minnesota pushed back the start time close to five hours. When the clock struck 6 p.m., the Yellowjackets, who entered the 2023 Upper Midwest Athletic Conference Tournament as the No. 2 seed, began playing for their season. The Yellowjackets survived to play another day after doubling up Minnesota Morris, 10-5 at Franklin Rogers Park in Mankato. After a rough day Thursday, the Yellowjackets handed the ball to Matt Tappe. The junior sidearmer, who has put together a dominant stretch on the mound, defeated Minnesota Morris for the second time this season, giving him a team-leading eight wins on the year. Tappe got it done on the mound, and the Yellowjackets made sure he got some early run support. The Yellowjackets will wait out the final game of the day between Bethany Lutheran and Crown to determine who they will play Saturday. The late night contest could not be completed with Bethany Lutheran ahead of Crown 13-0 in the sixth inning.
Fourth-seeded UW-Oshkosh (25-15) was eliminated from the WIAC Tournament on Friday with losses to second-seeded UW-La Crosse and third-seeded UW-Whitewater. In UWO's 9-8 loss to UW-La Crosse, the Eagles scored seven unanswered runs between the sixth and 10th innings, including Jack Olver's second home run of the game in the seventh and four runs in the ninth to send the game to extra innings. Chris VandenHeuvel sent the winning run home in the bottom of the 10th on a single through the right side. UW-Whitewater advanced to face the Titans when they eliminated host team and first-seeded UW-Stevens Point, 9-1, in the first game of the day. Matt Scolan hit his second home run of the game in the bottom of the fourth to give UWW an 8-2 lead. Whitewater scored twice more in the fifth and sixth before UWO's Jake Surane hit his third home run of the season to record three RBI, cutting UWW's lead in half and bringing the score to 5-10. The bottom of the seventh saw Whitewater score on a Ryan Norton single to center field and the top of the eighth saw Mason Kirchberg hit a two-run home run (10th home run of the year). Kirchberg's home run was the last time either team scored. UWO fell to UWW by a score of 7-12.
Top-seed St. John Fisher (29-12) and No. 4 seed Russell Sage (18-24) and will meet in the championship round of the 2023 Empire 8 Tournament after advancing through on Friday, May 12. The Cardinals defeated No. 2 Utica, 11-6 in the winners bracket game on Friday afternoon. The Cardinals rallied from three separate deficits over the first five innings and used a dominant relief outing from Hunter Walsh to defeat Utica 11-6 and advance to the E8 Championship on Saturday. Russell Sage won a pair of games on Friday, 12-2 over No. 3 Houghton (19-22) in an elimination game on Friday morning before rallying to defeat Utica (24-15), 7-6 in 11 innings in the second elimination game. Russell Sage's bats combined for 12 hits, including four doubles with eight stolen bases in addition to nine walks to fend off elimination and knock out Houghton in the opening game on Friday morning. In an extra-inning battle, the Gators clawed their way back into the game tying it four times before ultimately taking the lead in the top of the 11th inning. Sophomore second baseman Dom Caminitti led off the top of the inning with a double to left center field. He moved to third on a groundout. With two outs, sophomore catcher Dylan Scherillo drove in what would be the game-winning run with his infield single through the left side.
For the first time in AMCC baseball history, the two lowest seeds have advanced to the championship. #5 Hilbert College and #6 Penn State Altoona will go head to head in Saturday's title round at Alfred State College. The Lions accomplished this by first dropping #2 Penn State Behrend on Thursday and then #5 seed Hilbert College today, themselves a surprise winner on Thursday defeating #1 seed Alfred State College. The first game on Saturday featured the two top seeds in a battle to stay alive. #1 Alfred State prevailed in a 7-4 decision, on a walk off 3 run homer in the bottom of the ninth by 1B Nick Serce. Serce was also the winning pitcher in a tournament highlight effort. In game 2, Penn State Altoona C Tim Richard stood out with a 2 for 5 effort in the 12-3 win over Hilbert, driving in four runs and scoring one. SS Corey Chamberlain also contributed with 3 of 6 hitting, 2 RBI and 2 runs scored. Sam Holman earned the win and Mack Meengs got the save. The Hawks' 1B Patrick Whelan stepped up with 2 RBI and one run scored. Behrend 2B Zac Bogats was a shining light for the Lions, connecting on 3 of 5 appearances with 3 RBI and a run scored. The last contest of the day was also an elimination game, a rematch of Friday's pairing between Alfred State and Hilbert. Different day, same result, as the Hawks again stunned the top seeded Pioneers, this time by a 10-5 margin. After Alfred State built an early 3-0 lead, Hilbert responded with four in the 4th and another three in the 7th. Three more in the ninth and a lock down effort by ace reliever Brendan Walsh and the Hawks secured their first ever trip to the championship game in their first ever AMCC tournament appearance, winning 10-5.
After a day of offense on Thursday, Friday's slate of games in the 2023 SLIAC Tournament was a little more subdued with just 22 total runs scored over the three games compared to yesterday's 41 runs over two games. At the end of the night the final two teams in the tournament, Spalding and Webster, set up a familiar championship round on Saturday. #4 Westminster College defeated #6 Eureka College, 6-4. The Red Devils made things interesting when Nathan Garard homered to lead off the 8th. Tanner singled later in the inning but was stranded and two more runners were left on base in the 9th inning as Hayden Sanborn come on for the save for Westminster. Blue Jay Steven Diaz hit for the cycle in the game, going 4-for-4 with 4 RBI. The day's second game boasted a pair of offenses that tied the conference tournament record for runs scored in a game one day earlier, but on Friday it was a pitcher's duel that had just three runs and 11 combined hits as Webster defeated Spalding 3-0. The day's final game saw Westminster battle each other with each team holding the lead at some point during the game but it was Spalding who came out with a 5-4 win.
Only two of the four games scheduled for day one of the Midwest Conference Tournament were completed before weather delays stopped play on Friday. Beloit and the University of Chicago came out victorious after opening round wins to start the day. The Buccaneers defeated Grinnell College 17-2. The Pioneers jumped on the board in the first inning with a solo homer to take its only lead of the game. Beloit would follow up in the second with a two-run homer to go up 2-1 before extending its lead to 6-1 after four innings of play. In the sixth inning, the Buccaneers exploded with 11 runs, putting the game out of reach. The Maroons took down Ripon College 8-1 in their first game. After three innings of play, Chicago led the Red Hawks 3-0, scoring one run in the second inning and two in the third. Ripon would need six innings to post its first run on the board. Chicago ended the game adding three additional runs in the seventh and two more in the eighth. Before play was halted due to rain, Beloit held an 11-5 over the University of Chicago in the top of the sixth inning, while Ripon led Grinnell 5-1 in the bottom of the ninth.