Lawrenceville, Ga. – The No. 5 seeded Saint Xavier University baseball team (33-24/20-12 CCAC) avoided elimination from the NAIA National Championship Opening Round Lawrenceville Bracket with a thrilling 9-8 walk-off victory in the bottom of the 9^th to defeat No. 4 Talladega College (Ala.) Wednesday afternoon at the Grizzly Sports Complex in Lawrenceville, Ga. The Cougars were unable to carry over the momentum in the night cap as they were eliminated by host, and top seed, Georgia Gwinnett College in the elimination bracket final by a score of 16-5 in eight innings. With their 2-2 record in the bracket, SXU equals its best finish in the NAIA Opening Round format since its current formation in 2009, the same season that Saint Xavier also went 2-2 and placing third in the Kingsport (Tenn.) Bracket.

Senior outfielder Sean Moore (Chicago, Ill./Calumet St. Joseph/Thornwood) tied a long-standing program record as he collected six stolen bases on the day, with five against Talladega, to give him 99 in just two seasons. He tied Saint Xavier Hall of Famer Dave 'Smokey' Swiatek, who also had 99 steals from 1973-76, a member of the inaugural 1973 squad. Moore also extended his program single-season stolen base mark to 64, 21 more than Swiatek's previous high of 43 in 1975. As of the end of competition on Wednesday, Moore was leading the NAIA in stolen bases. As a team, the Cougars surpassed 200 stolen bases for the first time in team history, swiping 242 bases, third most in the NAIA behind only Talladaga (259) and Georgia Gwinnett (315).

Game One:

• Moore was 2-for-3 at the plate with a run scored, a walk and a hit-by-pitch.
• Senior infielder Justin Massingale (Carbondale, Ill./St. Charles/Carbondale Community) had a hit in three at-bats with two RBI, a run and a walk.
• Junior catcher Aaron Orzech (Shorewood, Ill./Crossroads Christian Academy) went 1-for-3 with an RBI and was hit-by-pitch twice.
• Graduate student designated hitter Gabe Kirck (Grosse Pointe Woods, Mich./Olivet/De La Salle)
• Senior pinch-hitter Mason Johnson (Palmdale, Calif./Antelope Valley/Quartz Hill) hammered a two-run double in his lone plate appearance.
• Senior outfielder Michael Flier (Greenup, Ill./Spoon River/Cumberland) was 1-for-4 with two runs scored and a stolen base.
• Graduate student outfielder Travis Hammond (Stone Mountain, Ga./Southern Wesleyan/Emmanuel/Columbus State/Chamblee) finished 1-for-5 with two runs and a double. He reached base on an error that allowed SXU to come away with the win over the Tornadoes.
• Junior pitcher Trent Markezich (Mount Olive, Ill./Mount Olive) made his first start of the season, going 3.0 innings with four hits allowed, two runs (one earned), a walk and a strikeout for the no decision.
• Senior pitcher Sebastian Parchomenko (Algonquin, Ill./Southwest Mississippi/Dundee-Crown) worked 3.2 innings of relief, giving up five hits, five earned runs, two walks and striking out three batters.
• Sophomore pitcher Garrett Benko (Chesterton, Ind./Andrean) pitched an inning out of the bullpen, not allowing a hit with one earned run, four walks and a strikeout.
• Senior Noah Scott (Chesterton, Ind./Chesterton) came away with the win, improving to 2-2, after tossing 1.1 innings with just one hit surrendered.
• TC went up 1-0 in the top of the 1^st on a two-out home run over the wall in left center. They added to their lead with a sacrifice fly in the top of the 2^nd.
• Saint Xavier rallied to tie the game at 2-2 in the bottom of the 5^th when Hammond reach base on an error that allowed Flier to score and Massingale hit an RBI groundout.
• The 7^th inning saw 10 combined runs cross the plate, squaring up the scored at 7-7. Talladega drew a bases loaded walk and hit a Grand Slam to re-take the lead, 7-2. However, SXU responded with five runs of their own when Johnson belted his second double of the year to drive in two runs. Orzech followed with an RBI single, sophomore pinch-hitter John Simecek (Twinsburg, Ohio/Walsh Jesuit) lifted a sac fly and graduate student infielder Taylor Steig (Corona, Calif./Olivet Nazarene/Redwoods/Santiago) re-tied the game with an RBI base hit to right field.
• The Tornadoes went up 8-7 with another bases loaded walk in the top of the 8^th.
• Massingale tied the game once more with his team-leading fifth sacrifice fly of the year in the bottom half of the frame.
• Scott allowed a lead-off base hit to start the top of the 9^th, but was able to record a pair of fly outs before Orzech threw out the potential go-ahead run trying to steal second to end the top half of the inning.
• Kirck drew a lead-off walk in the bottom of the 9^th and was lifted for sophomore pinch-runner Max Waszkiewicz (Willowbrook, Ill./Hinsdale South), who promptly stole second, giving him 10 steals on the year. A sac bunt moved Waszkiewicz over to third base with one out. Steig was intentionally walked and Flier hit into a fielder's choice with Waszkiewicz putout at home. A wild pitch moved Flier and junior pinch-runner Gannon Burns (Edwardsville, Ill./Edwardsville) to move up 90 feet, putting both runners in scoring position. Hammond sent a sharp ground ball back up the middle that was fielded by the shortstop, however the throw pulled the first baseman off the bag to allow Burns to tally the winning-run, sending his teammates to right field to celebrate with Hammond who reached base safely.

Game Two:

• Moore collected two hits in three at-bats with a two-run triple, a run scored, a walk and a stolen base.
• Kirck was 1-for-3 with an RBI and a walk.
• Sophomore pitcher/infielder Noah Dreier (Brookfield, Wis./Brookfield Central) started game two and took the loss (4-5) after working 1.0 inning with one hit, three earned runs and three walks.
• Senior pitcher Logan McCleery (Patterson, Calif./Patterson) was efficient out of the bullpen, throwing 4.0 innings with just two hits, no runs, two walks and four strikeouts.
• Benko pitched 0.2 innings of relief, giving up two hits, three earned runs and two walks.
• Graduate student pitcher Jimmy Fairley (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Rock Valley/Huntley) threw 0.2 innings, surrendering four hits, six earned runs, a walk and posting a strikeout.
• Simecek logged 0.1 innings with two hits, two runs (one earned) and a walk.
• Senior pitcher Logan Antrim (Effingham, Ill./Lincoln Land/St. Anthony) worked 1.1 innings with two hits allowed and two runs (one earned).
• The Grizzlies, ranked No. 2 in the final NAIA Top 25 Coaches Poll, jumped out to a 3-0 advantage in the top of the 1^st on a sacrifice fly, an RBI single and a run-scoring wild pitch.
• Saint Xavier responded with two runs in the bottom of the 1^st. Junior infielder Shea Zbrozek (Bloomington, Ill./Danville Area/Normal Community) stole third and scored on a throwing error by the catcher. Kirck lined an RBI single to right center field, his team-best 50^th RBI of the 2025 campaign.
• GGC extended its lead in the top of the 6^th on a pair of RBI base hits with a sac fly sandwiched in between to go up 6-2.
• Georgia Gwinnett plated eight runs in the top of 7^th to carry a 14-2 lead. A hit-by-pitch with the bases loaded brought in a run, followed by an RBI single and a Cougar miscue to score two runs, a two-run single, an RBI base hit and another RBI single with an SXU error brining in a run on the play.
• In the bottom of the 7^th, Moore sliced his team-leading ninth triple to left field that scored two runs. He scored on an error to give him a 'Little League Home Run.'
• The Grizzlies added two runs in the top of the 8^th on an RBI triple and an RBI double before retiring the side in order in the bottom half of the inning.

Saint Xavier (33-24/20-12 CCAC) concluded the 2025 season with a share of the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) regular season title, its second CCAC Tournament crown in three seasons and third NAIA Opening Round appearance in the last five seasons.