ALLIANCE, Ohio  — After dropping its first game of the day to Rowan, the Catholic baseball team needed to pick up another win over Mount Union to advance to the regional championship on Sunday. The offense once again got going early for the Cardinals and the team was able to hold off a late comeback attempt from the Purple Raiders to come up with a 10-8 victory to advance to tomorrow's championship against the Profs.
Joe Marini picked up the first hit of the game with a base hit to right center field in the top of the first to set the table for Mitchel Johnson. Johnson continued his scorching hot weekend at the plate as he launched his second home run of the regional to left center field to put the Cardinals on top 2-0. The lead would not last long however as the Profs struck for eight runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 8-2 lead that they would hold on to for the rest of the game.

Catholic punched back in the top of the second inning after back-to-back singles from Justin McCarthy and Steve Thomas put two on with just one out. A passed ball brought McCarthy in to score and Johnson notched another RBI on a fielder's choice to score Thomas to cut the deficit down to four. Rowan once again had answers with the bats and scored three more runs on a two-out bases-clearing double down the left field line to put them in the driver's seat up 11-4. 

Johnson did some more damage at the plate in the top of the fourth to try and rally the Cardinals back when he smoked his second long ball of the game over the fence in center field to record his second multi-home run game of the season to make it an 11-6 ballgame. The game got away from Catholic in the bottom of the fourth as Rowan brought 12 runs to the plate on 10 hits to blow the game open in the early innings. 

Thomas picked up an RBI on a ground out to score Matthew Fisher in the top of the fifth and the Cardinals scratched across another run in the top of the seventh when Michael Napolitano came in to score on a wild pitch for Catholic's seventh run.

McCarthy made the first pitching appearance of his career in the bottom of the eighth inning and retired the lone batter he faced to retire the side in the inning. Entering the game as a pitcher, McCarthy has now played all nine positions on the diamond in his collegiate career. Johnson picked up yet another RBI in the top of the ninth to bring his total to six in the game. The Cardinals were unable to push across anymore runs and the Profs went on to win 26-8 to advance to tomorrow's regional championship. 

Johnson tied the record for the most RBI in a NCAA Tournament game in program history with his six. He tied Brennan Cotter who drove in six against Babson in 2018. He also hit multiple homers in a NCAA Tournament matchup for the second time in his career after hitting two against Baldwin Wallace last season.  The long ball was once again in favor of the Cardinals in the top of the first inning after a Thomas lead-off double. Marini smoked the first home run of the inning to right field to put Catholic on top 2-0. Right behind him, Johnson made it back-to-back homers with his fourth of the weekend on a solo shot to right center to push the lead out to three. Sammy Burman picked up a single later in the inning and came around to score on an error from Mount Union to extend the lead to four.

After allowing a run in the bottom of the first, Catholic added on to the lead in the top of the third, started off by Jack Bateman, who launched his fifth homer of the season off the top of the wall in center field to push the lead back to four. Johnson once again came through later in the inning when he ripped a two-RBI single to left field to score McCarthy and Thomas to go ahead 7-1. 

The Cardinals hung another crooked number in the top of the sixth as Matthew Fisher reached on an error and McCarthy picked up a base-hit to put two runners on with two outs for Thomas. Thomas' hit would be one for the record books as he launched a three-run home run to left field to push the Catholic lead up to eight, 10-2. Thomas' hit was his 70th of the season which is the new program record for hits in a single season. 

The Purple Raiders entered the ninth inning trailing by five and needing a rally to keep their season alive. Mount Union brought in three runs with two outs in the inning and brought the tying run to the  plate before turning the ball over to Mac Meara. Meara punched out the lone batter he faced to earn his second save of the season and send the Cardinals into the regional championship tomorrow against the Profs. Catholic is now 29-17 on the season and will need to win twice tomorrow to advance to the super regional.

Inside the Box Score

• Thomas finished the game 4-for-5 with three RBI and three runs scored to bring his season hit total to 71, making him the first player in program history to rack up 70 or more hits in a season. Over the course of the postseason, Thomas is 15-for-30 with nine RBI, six extra-base hits and 11 runs scored. 
• Johnson also reached a milestone throughout the day as his three homers brought his career total to 29, tying Ben Nardi for the most long balls in a career in program history. His three homers on the day brought his season total to 14 which is the second-most in a single season in program history. He also moved into fourth on the program's single-season RBI list with 53.
• Sam Fairhurst earned his seventh win of the season in the game versus Mount Union as he worked through six innings, allowing four runs to help Catholic advance to tomorrow. Fairhurst now leads the team in innings pitched this season with 73.2 and he is now tied for sixth for the most pitching wins in a single season.

The Cardinals take on the Profs tomorrow, May 18 with the first game coming at 11 am at Rafeld-Rogers Field. Game two would come approximately 45 minutes after game one if Catholic wins.