NCCAA
KANSAS CITY, Mo. – Concordia University Ann Arbor (CUAA) won its second (2019) NCCAA Baseball National Championship after defeating No. 5 University of Fort Lauderdale (UFTL) 13-3. The No. 2 seeded Cardinals came out strong with a 3-0 first inning lead after James Wressel’s RBI single and Kyle Hebner’s 2-RBI single.
After a rain delay of more than two hours in the second inning, CUAA continued to build on its lead, scoring 2 runs in each of the next three innings for a 9-3 lead at the end of four innings. The Cardinals tacked on another in the sixth inning, before Aaron West’s 2-RBI double and Wressel’s RBI single in the seventh to make it a 13-3 lead. Timothy Pomaville was dominant in relief, striking out 13 batters while not allowing a single run in 7 innings of work.
The Cardinals opened the double-elimination tournament with an 8-6 win over No. 10 Asbury University as Jarrett Batanian had a crucial 2-RBI single to take a 7-6 lead in the eighth inning. CUAA then lost to No. 3 University of Northwestern (UNW) 14-7, with five different pitchers giving up a total of 20 hits and 5 walks. The Cardinals bounced back with 14-3 win in eight innings over No. 7 Kansas Christian College. CUAA scored 11 runs in the final three innings and were led by Aaron West who went 4-for-5 with 2 RBI’s along with Hebner who finished 2-for-4 with 4 RBI’s.
The Cardinals moved on to face UFTL, coming out victorious 18-5 in seven innings as Hebner again came up big, finishing 2-for-3 with 4 RBI’s. CUAA then took advantage of a second opportunity against UNW, this time picking up a 6-1 win to set up a rematch with Fort Lauderdale in the championship game. Pitcher Tyson Kleinfelter earned the complete-game win, striking out 13 batters and allowing just 3 hits and 5 walks.
CUAA’s Kyle Hebner was named the Tournament Most Outstanding Player.