Rockford, MI – The Aquinas baseball team showed up big in one of its biggest conference doubleheaders of the season on Saturday against Concordia. The Cardinals came into the day with a 31-5 overall record, including a 14-2 mark in WHAC play—just one game out of first place. On paper, the Saints may have settled for a split, but instead, they made a statement.

Game 1: Aquinas 5, Concordia 4 (Walk-off Win)
Game one featured birthday boy Mark Kalahar on the mound, and if the Saints were going to compete, he needed to deliver—he did. Kalahar went five strong innings, allowing three runs on four hits, walking one and striking out another.

The Saints struck first when Ramsey Bousseau led off with a single and later scored an unearned run on a fielder's choice by Chase Robinson. In the third, one of AQ's hottest hitters, Stephen Weinert, launched a solo homer to right-center to make it 2-1 and recapture the lead.

The turning point came with one out in the top of the fourth. Concordia tied the game with a leadoff single followed by a double. After a flyout to center, Justin Kozlowski stepped in. With the count 1-0, it appeared he was hit by a pitch, but the umpire ruled he was swinging and that the ball hit his forearm in the strike zone—foul ball. Concordia would still take the lead two batters later, but the ruling negated a runner and altered the inning's momentum.

Now trailing 3-2, the Saints showed heart in the fifth. Things looked bleak when Dylan Nguyen grounded into a 5-4-3 double play, erasing a leadoff single by Weinert. But AQ responded with three straight singles by Robinson, Kasy Shadduck, and Grant Martin. A wild pitch helped the cause, and Martin's two-out single gave the Saints a 4-3 lead.

Martin then took the mound in relief of Kalahar and pitched effectively, though Concordia tied it in the seventh with an RBI single from Alex Piotrowski. Martin escaped further trouble, setting the stage for some bottom-of-the-seventh drama.

Weinert was hit by a pitch to start the inning, and Nguyen laid down a perfect sac bunt to move him into scoring position. After an intentional walk to Robinson and a hit-by-pitch to Shadduck, the bases were loaded for Martin. On a 1-1 pitch, he lifted a deep fly to center, scoring pinch runner Owen Graves and giving AQ a thrilling 5-4 walk-off win—and a jolt of momentum heading into game two.

Inside the Numbers (Game 1):

• Stephen Weinert: 2-for-3, HR, RBI, R
• Chase Robinson: 2-for-3, 3B, SB, R, RBI, BB
• Kasy Shadduck: 1-for-1, RBI, 2 BB, HBP, R
• Grant Martin: 1-for-3, 3 RBIs, SF, 2 IP, 1 ER, Win & Game-Winning RBI

Game 2: Aquinas 6, Concordia 1
Fueled by a steady offensive attack and a dominant pitching performance, the Saints secured a 6–1 win over Concordia to complete the sweep. Aquinas tallied 11 hits and capitalized on timely at-bats to pull away in the nightcap.

AQ got rolling early, as Weinert scored in the first on a Robinson single to left. In the second, Weinert added an RBI single and Nguyen followed with one of his own, pushing the lead to 3–0.

In the fourth, Robinson dropped a perfect sacrifice bunt to bring home Weinert once more, extending the lead to 4–0. Weinert capped an outstanding day by going 4-for-5 with two doubles, two runs scored, and an RBI.

Concordia's only run came in the top of the seventh on a sac fly by K. Hebner, scoring Kozlowski. But the Saints quickly answered. With the bases loaded in the bottom half, a throwing error on a JT LaMange grounder brought home Martin to make it 5–1. Nguyen followed with a towering solo shot to left-center in the eighth—his first homer of the season and his second RBI of the game.

On the mound, Ethan Pequette delivered a gem, going 6.1 innings while allowing just two hits, no earned runs, and striking out four. Travis Weide and Blake Waibel finished the job, combining for 2.2 innings of shutout relief.

The sweep improves Aquinas to 19-20 overall and 12-6 in WHAC play. Concordia drops to 31-7 overall and 14-4 in the conference.

Inside the Numbers (Game 2):

• Stephen Weinert: 4-for-5, 2 2B, 2 R, RBI
• Dylan Nguyen: 2-for-4, HR, BB, R, 2 RBIs
• JT LaMange: 2-for-3
• Concordia CF Gus Simon: 9 putouts
• Ethan Pequette: 6.1 IP, 2 H, 1 R, 0 ER, 2 BB, 4 K, Win

Coach's Comments
Head Coach Chris LaMange praised his team after their standout performance:
"Two big wins for AQ today—probably our best doubleheader of the year so far. We held a very good hitting team to 10 hits and 5 runs total—our pitching staff has been coming up huge. Great start to the weekend and a big confidence boost as we try to build momentum and finish strong in conference play."

WHAC Conference Updated Standings:

Up Next
The Saints turn right around for a Sunday WHAC doubleheader at Oakland University against UM-Dearborn. First pitch is set for 1:00 PM, with game two to follow 30 minutes after the opener.
If you're AQ faithful, stay updated on all the stats, scores, and recaps at AQSaints.com.