The Aquinas baseball team fell in a pair of home non-conference games against visiting Concordia on Wednesday (Apr. 28) at the WMSC Sports Complex in Rockford. CUAA took a pair of low-scoring games from the Saints by 2-1 and 6-1 scores.
AQ was scheduled to host Siena Heights in a pair of WHAC games on Wednesday, but SHU was forced to cancel. The Saints scheduled Concordia for a non-conference doubleheader with a pair of seven-inning games. With the wins, CUAA is 35-13 on the season, while Aquinas drops to 21-24 overall.
The opener was a pitcher's duel, although Aquinas employed three pitchers against Concordia's lone pitcher. An RBI groundout put the Cardinals on top in the third inning, but Aquinas tied the score in the fourth on an RBI triple from Colton Vanderleest, scoring
Nathan Wilcox to make the game, 1-1.
Concordia regained the lead with a run in the fifth inning for the game's final tally. After CUAA took the 2-1 edge, the final nine Saints were retired in order, ending the game. The Cardinals outhit AQ by a 7-3 margin. Vanderleest, Wilcox, and
Sean Wing each tallied a hit in the opener.
Ben Snider started for the Saints and allowed one unearned run in three innings.
Nathan Myers (2-1) also allowed an unearned run on two hits in two innings and
Richard Steffan gave up one hit in two scoreless innings.
In game two, Aquinas took a 1-0 lead on a
Lucas Weinert RBI single in the first inning, which scored
Alec Lockwood. The Cardinals answered with a two-run homer in the top of the second from Calvin Syrjala and he added a solo home run in the fourth inning to make it a 4-1 CUAA cushion.
Concordia added an RBI double and run-scoring triple in the seventh for the final runs of the nightcap. The Cardinals led in hits, 9-6. Six Saints collected hits: Weinert, Wing, Lockwood,
Dane Smitz,
Jacob Ramont, and
Ryan Gillings. Ramont had the lone extra-base hit with a double.
Tyler Zomerlei (0-2) allowed two earned runs in two innings as the game two starter.
Conor Gausselin struck out two and gave up a run in his one inning of relief, while
Hunter Morrison and
Bruce Buurstra tossed two innings apiece, giving up one and two earned runs, respectively.
The Saints head across town on Saturday (May 1) to take on rival Cornerstone in a WHAC doubleheader. First pitch is set for 1:00 p.m.
