Walk-Off Win Opens CAC Baseball Championship
The 2026 Continental Athletic Conference Baseball Championship opened with a dramatic rally, capped by a walk-off two-run double, as No. 4-seeded Simpson University (California) defeated No. 5 Carolina University (North Carolina) 6-5 in Wednesday's tournament action at Georgia Gwinnett College's Grizzly Baseball Complex.
In other first-round games, No. 2-seed Westcliff University (California) scored 10 runs in the final two innings to pick up a 17-7 win in eight innings against No. 3 Florida National University. Then, top-seed GGC scored a 13-2 triumph against Simpson in the nightcap.
The CAC Championship continues Thursday, April 30, with Carolina scheduled to face Florida National at 11 a.m. in an elimination-round contest. That will be followed by a winner's bracket contest between Westcliff and Georgia Gwinnett at 3 p.m. Simpson will play the winner of the Carolina-FNU contest in another elimination-round contest, scheduled at 7 p.m.
The double-elimination tournament is scheduled to continue through Saturday, May 2. The winner will represent the CAC in the Opening Round of the NAIA national tournament.
Here are recaps of Wednesday's exciting first-round games:
No. 4 Simpson University 6, No. 5 Carolina University 5
Simpson's Duke Aloy hit a two-run walk-off double to right field as the Red Hawks rallied from a 5-1 deficit through seven innings.
Cesar Ortega connected on a solo home run to jumpstart the rally in the bottom of the eighth inning. Mario Catalan added a run-scoring infield single before Aden Munoz hit a sacrifice fly to cap a three-run frame.
Simpson loaded the bases with no outs in the bottom of the ninth inning, setting up Aloy's clutch at-bat.
Carolina used two-out hitting in the first and third innings to take a 3-0 advantage. Alexis Fontanez lined an RBI single up the middle in the opening frame before driving in two runs with a double to center field during the third inning. Fontanez went 4-for-5 and drove in three runs for the Bruins
Chandler Smithart extended the lead to 4-0 with a sacrifice fly to left field in the fifth inning.
Aloy went 3-for-3 in the triumph, while Eric Mora also tallied three hits for Simpson.
No. 2 Westcliff University 17, No. 3 Florida National University 7 (8 Innings)
Westcliff scored five runs in the seventh and eighth innings to pull away from Florida National and advance to Thursday's winner's bracket action.
Haiden Letzing gave the Warriors the lead for good, at 6-5, with an RBI single to center field in the sixth inning.
Jack Varney tallied a run-scoring single before Nick Malvini lined an RBI single to left field during the critical seventh inning. Carson Kawaguchi and Landon Raskin also added run-scoring singles later in the frame.
Malvini struck again an inning later with a single to center field to give Westcliff a commanding 13-7 lead.
Ryan Duron connected on go-ahead two-run home run in the fourth inning to give the Warriors a 4-3 lead.
Florida National battled back to square the contest at 5-5 after a sacrifice fly from James Snyder and an RBI double from Alejandro De Armas in the top of the sixth inning.
Snyder went 2-for-3 and had three RBI to pace the Conquistadors. Cesar Mora, Jesus Sosa and De Armas also collected two hits.
Malvini led Westliff by going 4-for-4 and scored four times. AJ Quezada went 3-for-5 and scored three runs, while Ben Carter also registered three hits. Duron had three hits and drove in a pair of runs.
No. 1 Georgia Gwinnett College 13, No. 4 Simpson University 2 (7 Innings)
Three doubles and a home run helped break open the flood gates for the top-seeded Grizzlies' scoring barrage in their tournament opener.
GGC scored five runs in the bottom of the third inning to take a 5-2 lead. Simpson plated a pair of runs in the top of the first inning.
The tournament host added four runs with opportunistic hits and walks to score the 11-run victory.
Starting pitcher Shane Anderson, the CAC's 2026 Pitcher of the Year, overcame a rather slow start, allowing two runs in the top of the first inning, to improve his record to 7-0 on the season. The right-hander had six strikeouts and allowed five hits in the seven-inning performance.
Lance Bratlien had two of GGC's five doubles in the contest, while going 3-for-4 and having four RBI. Jay O'Neill also had four RBI, with a home run being part of a four-run fourth inning. He ended with a 2-for-4 night and two runs scored. Grant Pohlman had another strong offensive game, going 2-for-2 and having two RBI.
GGC scored its 13 runs on 10 hits in the contest. Meanwhile, Simpson had four defensive errors.
Bo Valladao and Duke Alloy had run-scoring hits as the Red Hawks took the early 2-0 lead.