SANTA BARBARA, Calif. – The Concordia University Irvine baseball team worked their way into the final day of the PacWest Conference Championship against No. 1 seed Point Loma. Needing two victories to capture the conference crown the Golden Eagles came out ready to compete. Concordia fought throughout the championship opener but Point Loma used a late offensive push to secure the PacWest title with a 9-1 win.
The Golden Eagles opened the game with a strong defensive effort matching Point Loma through the first three scoreless innings. Starting pitcher
Michael Panichi settled in early while the CUI defense helped keep the Sea Lions off the scoreboard despite an early extra base hit. Panichi worked 6.0 innings allowed four runs on four hits while striking out three and limiting their opponent offense through the early and middle innings.
Sawyer Voortman generated the first offensive momentum in the third inning when singled to right field and
Isaiah Walz followed with a base hit through the left side to put runners on the corners but were left stranded.
After Point Loma took a 2-0 lead in the fourth inning
Wyatt Madison energized the home crowd with a solo home run down the left field line trimming the deficit to 2-1 and keeping Concordia firmly in the contest.
Nicolas Erickson delivered a single in the sixth inning while
David Baruch III worked a walk to create another scoring opportunity. Voortman tried to get things going in the ninth with a single but the Sea Lions were able to close out the inning and close out the game with a final 9-1 win.
The bullpen also provided valuable innings down the stretch.
Caden Miller entered in relief during the seventh inning followed by appearances from
Nathan Hunter and
Dominic Nunes as the Concordia continued to battle against the Sea Lions lineup.
CLICK HERE for Postgame Interviews with CUI's Voortman, Panichi, and Coach Turgeon
CUI closed out conference play with a 27-17 record and holds a 31-25 mark overall with the 31 wins standing as the most since the program moved to Division II. The Golden Eagles will now await the to see if their season continues into regional play next week.
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