LA MIRADA, Calif. – The CUI baseball team won Tuesday's matchup against Biola by a score of 11-3, rising to 21-20-1 on the season. Since it was a non-conference game, Concordia remains fourth in the PacWest standings with a conference record of 14-10. The 2022 squad needs just three more wins to break the school record for most wins in a single season in the program's NCAA DII era (since 2016).  
 
Starting pitcher Matthew Williams was masterful on the mound, providing Concordia with a quality start in the longest outing of his career. The sophomore only surrendered three hits in 7.0 innings while allowing one earned run on 97 pitches. Williams also recorded a career-high six strikeouts in the game en route to becoming 2-1 on the season.
 
The Eagle bats came alive in La Mirada, scoring 11 runs on 14 hits. Five different Eagles – Kevin Fowler, Michael Dixon, Jackson Collins, Nathan Benefeito, and Tristan Hanoian - recorded multiple hits, with Dixon being the only to gather three. The offense was firing on all cylinders, as seen with an impressive eight batters recording at least one RBI.
 
In the top of the seventh inning, Hayden Winters helped extend CUI's lead with a solo home run to center field, his second of the season. Will Bonn and Fowler also recorded a double in the game, as Fowler improved his team-leading batting average to .379 on the season.
 

"Today the team played well in all areas of the game," said head coach Joe Turgeon. "Matt Williams threw the ball extremely well, we picked each other up all day, and had a ton of quality at-bats."

 

Playoff Picture

Concordia looks ahead to their most important series of the season against No. 4 Point Loma, beginning next Thursday, April 28^th, in San Diego. With only eight games remaining on the schedule, CUI will likely need to win the series versus PLNU and sweep Holy Names to have a shot at making the NCAA Tournament.
 
The Green & Gold are still in the running to win the conference, sitting three games back in the standings. However, Point Loma and Azusa Pacific will likely pull ahead this weekend since they still have 12 conference games remaining while CUI has a bye. If this happens and first place becomes unattainable, CUI will rely on an at-large bid to get into the NCAA Tournament. Having been ranked as high as No. 20 in the national rankings earlier this season, there is certainly a case to be made for an at-large bid if they take care of business in the remaining eight games (most importantly with a series win over No. 4 Point Loma).
 

"All you can ask for is to play quality teams at the end of the year and have it mean something," said Turgeon, "Our guys understand what is in front of them and will be ready to play the game when the time comes."

 
Beginning in 2023, the PacWest Conference will add a double elimination tournament at the end of the season featuring the top four teams in the conference. This means that the winner of the conference tournament will now receive the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Tournament, and no longer the team that finished first in the regular season standings. The CCAA and GNAC (the two other conferences in the DII West Region) already have a similar tournament in place, allowing teams who sit third or fourth in the standings to make one final push for the automatic bid.
 
There are a lot of moving pieces that can affect Concordia's ability to make the NCAA Tournament next month, but one thing is for certain - every game moving forward is a must-win.

Click HERE for the 2022 Baseball Schedule