WHITEWATER, Wis. — The 2024 season ended for Cal Lutheran baseball after it was bested by No. 5 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater and Centre College in the NCAA Championship Regional on Saturday.
After the Kingsmen were part of a historic selection process where all four SCIAC playoff teams received a bid to the NCAA Championship, their incredible season ended in Wisconsin after their 18th Tournament appearance. The Kingsmen started 1-0 in the Tournament after shutting down Centre on Friday, earning them a spot in the winner's bracket of the Regional where they fell to host school UW-Whitewater (37-8). In a rematch of game one, the Kingsmen could not fend off the Colonels and stay alive.
GAME ONE: Kingsmen 3, Warhawks 20
The Warhawks feasted in the opening frames to all but put the game out of reach early, scoring three runs in the first three pitches and eclipsing double-digit runs in less than three innings.
John Frazier (L),
Cameron Cooper,
Dean Olsson, and
Milan Bugarin saw time on the mound. In the third,
Alec Garcia doubled and
Blake Wink singled to drive him in to get the Kingsmen on the board. They were kept off the scoreboard until the ninth inning when
Ryan Farr hit a two-run homer down the left field line, his first homer of the season.
GAME TWO: Kingsmen 6, Colonels 7
The Kingsmen trailed 6-0 through five innings without recording a hit, but a three spot in the bottom of the fifth injected new life in the offense, as they outscored the Colonels 6-1 in the last half of the contest but came up just a run short.
Farr singled with one out in the fifth and
Josh Quinn homered to get the Kingsmen two runs with one swing, blasting his fourth homer of the season.
Noah Matsumoto walked, Garcia singled, and Wink walked to load the bases after Quinn's homer and an errant pickoff attempt allowed another run to score before the end of the inning.
Troy Anderson made it 6-4 in the sixth when he blasted his third homer in the last five games and eighth of the season. After the Colonels banked an insurance run in the seventh inning, the Kingsmen went into the bottom of the ninth trailing by three runs. Quinn,
Sebastian Smith, and
Gordon Richardson reached to load the bases with no outs, bringing Garcia, the go-ahead run, to the plate and he delivered a two-RBI single to swing the tide. With the tying run at third and the go-ahead run at first, a strikeout and back-breaking double play ended the game.
UP NEXT
With most of the starting lineup and the one-two punch of
Luke Wechsler and Frazier returning to the mound next year, look for the Kingsmen and their historic program to impress in 2025.
