(Kansas City, MO) - CUAA baseball opened play at the National Christian College Athletic Association (NCCAA) World Series on Saturday afternoon. The Cardinals entered as the #2 seed while the Patriots checked in as the #7 seed. CUAA started fast with an early 6-1 lead, but Mission slowly came back and emerged with a 9-6 win.
Trey Acker started on the mound, making three strikeouts in five innings. The Cardinals opened scoring in the first inning when Derek Hebner used an RBI groundout to score Justin Kozlowski.
Mission tied the game 1-1 in the third inning. Tyler Lawson closed out the top half with a spectacular diving catch in the outfield. In the bottom of the third, Gus Simon used an RBI single to drive in Justin Kozlowski. Josh Burke later reached home on an error.
In the fourth inning, Justin Kozlowski hit an RBI single to score Clayton McKinstry. The Cardinals extended their lead with two runs in the fifth inning, starting with an RBI double from Alex Piotrowski to score Gus Simon. Clayton McKinstry added an RBI single to score Ty Schornak for a 6-1 lead.
Mission pulled closer with four runs in the sixth inning. Blake Weaver came in to pitch, notching four strikeouts in 3.1 innings.
Neither team scored in the seventh or eighth innings. Blake Weaver made three straight strikeouts in the eighth to strand a runner at third base.
Mission broke through in the ninth inning with four runs to take the lead. Kenneth (Dave) Rozmys secured the last two outs including one strikeout. However, the Cardinals were unable to mount a comeback in the bottom half and fell 9-6.
On Monday, May 19th at 6pm the Cardinals are currently scheduled to play the winner of #8 seed Judson University against #5 seed Campbellsville University.
