KANSAS CITY, Mo. - CIU baseball made the two-day journey to Kansas City for the NCCAA World Series, with their first contest on Saturday afternoon against College of the Ozarks. The Rams held the lead for most of the contest, but a seven-run inning from the Bobcats ultimately was too much for CIU to overcome. CIU fell 17-12 to enter the elimination bracket of the tournament.
Notably, the last meeting between the teams prior to Saturday came back in the 2021 World Series, where the Rams got the better of the Bobcats 6-2.
COFO 17 CIU 12: The Rams scored four in the opening frame to take an early lead, but the Bobcats cut their lead in half. Both teams added three in the third, with CIU still in front by two (7-5). The Bobcats took their first lead of the contest in the bottom of the fourth and held onto this until the sixth inning. Britton Morris hit an RBI double in the top of the sixth and then scored on a wild pitch to put the Rams ahead 9-8. The lead was short-lived as the Bobcats scored seven in the bottom of the seventh off of five hits and an error, then tacked on two more in the eighth to lead 17-9. With their last chance in the top of the ninth, Morris and Scott McDonough hit back-to-back doubles to add three more runs, but three consecutive outs ended the game in favor of the Bobcats.
Box Score Highlights:
Up Next: The Rams will face the fellow South Region foe Fort Lauderdale (Fla.) on Monday, May 20, at 11 a.m. CT.
