Lawrenceville, Ga. – The No. 5 seeded Saint Xavier University baseball team (31-23/20-12 CCAC) lost to No. 4 Talladega College (Ala.) 13-2 in seven innings to start play in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round Lawrenceville Bracket Monday afternoon on the campus of Georgia Gwinnett College in Lawrenceville, Ga. Graduate student designated hitter Gabe Kirck (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Olivet/De La Salle) and sophomore pitcher/infielder Noah Dreier (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) hit back-to-back home runs for the Cougars in the top of the 7^th.

• Dreier finished 2-for-3 with a double, while Kirck went 1-for-3.
• Senior outfielder Michael Flier (Greenup, Ill./Spoon River/Cumberland),
• Graduate student outfielder Travis Hammond (Stone Mountain, Ga./Southern Wesleyan/Emmanuel/Columbus State/Chamblee) was 0-for-1 with a walk and a stolen base.
• Graduate student pitcher Jimmy Fairley (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Rock Valley/Huntley) took the loss (10-2) after throwing 2.1 innings with six hits, six runs (four earned), one walk and one strikeout.
• Junior pitcher Trent Markezich (Mount Olive, Ill./Mount Olive) threw 1.2 innings, allowing two hits, two earned runs and a walk.
• Junior pitcher Thomas Plizga (Hoffman Estates, Ill./Olivet Nazarene/Fremd) tossed an inning out of the bullpen giving up three hits, three earned runs, two walks and a strikeout.
• Junior pitcher Gannon Burns (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) pitched an inning surrendering two hits and two earned runs.
• The Tornadoes scored six runs in the bottom of the 3^rd, belting a three-run home run, hitting an RBI double and adding two runs on a pair of SXU miscues.
• TC added two runs in the bottom of the 4^th on an RBI single and a sacrifice fly.
• Talladega tacked on two more runs in the bottom of the 5^th on a wild pitch and an RBI base hit. They belted a two-run home run to go up 13-0 in the bottom of the 6^th.
• In the top of the 7^th, Kirck slugged his 17^th home run and Dreier hammered his ninth home run in consecutive at-bats.

Saint Xavier (31-23/20-12 CCAC) is scheduled to play the loser of the No. 2 University of Houston-Victoria (Texas) vs. No. 3 Keiser University (Fla.) contest at 10:00 am central on Tuesday, May 13 in the elimination bracket.