Joliet, Ill. – Behind a combined five-hit shutout performance from graduate student pitcher Jimmy Fairley (Lake in the Hills, Ill./Rock Valley/Huntley), senior pitcher Logan McCleery (Patterson, Calif./Patterson) and sophomore pitcher Garrett Benko (Chesterton, Ind./Andrean), the No. 3 seeded Saint Xavier University baseball team (31-22/20-12 CCAC) defeated Judson University (Ill.) by a score of 6-0 in the Chicagoland Collegiate Athletic Conference (CCAC) Baseball Tournament Championship Saturday afternoon at Slammers Stadium in Joliet, Ill. It is the second time in three seasons that the Cougars have won the tournament and the fourth time overall, also winning in 2016 and 2019). SXU earns an automatic berth, by virtue of winning the tournament, into the NAIA Baseball National Championship Opening Round Tournament that begins on Monday, May 12. It is also the third time in the last five seasons that Saint Xavier has qualified for the NAIA Opening Round Tournament, as they made it in 2021 and 2023.

• Senior outfielder Sean Moore (Chicago, Ill./Calumet St. Joseph/Thornwood) tallied two hits in five trips to the plate with a run scored and a stolen base.
• Graduate student infielder Taylor Steig (Corona, Calif./Olivet Nazarene/Redwoods/Santiago) smacked a pair of doubles, finishing 2-for-4.
• Graduate student outfielder Travis Hammond (Stone Mountain, Ga./Southern Wesleyan/Emmanuel/Columbus State/Chamblee) scored two runs, along with two steals while going 1-for-3.
• Junior infielder Shea Zbrozek (Bloomington, Ill./Danville Area/Normal Community) was 1-for-4 with two stolen bases, an RBI and a run scored.
• Fairley improved his record to 10-1 on the mound in 2025 after logging 5.1 innings with just two hits, two walks and three strikeouts.
• McCleery worked 2.2 innings of relief, surrendering three hits and posting four strikeouts.
• Benko struck out the side in the bottom of the 9^th, getting a called third strike to end the game.
• Zbrozek broke a scoreless tie in the top of the 3^rd when he collected an RBI on a groundout.
• An error in the top of the 6^th allowed a run to score to push the lead to 2-0.
• In the top of the 7^th Zbrozek picked up another RBI on a sacrifice bunt that resulted in an error. Senior infielder Justin Massingale (Carbondale, Ill./St. Charles/Carbondale Community) lifted a sac fly to bring in a run and junior catcher Aaron Orzech (Shorewood, Ill./Crossroads Christian Academy) legged out an RBI infield single to put the Cougars ahead 5-0.
• A wild pitch scored a run for SXU in the top of the 8^th.

Saint Xavier (31-22/20-12 CCAC) finds out which of the 10 locations across the country they will travel to, their seeding and whom they will play on Wednesday, May 7 when the NAIA announces the pairings on its YouTube page.