ELGIN, Ill. – Milwaukee Area Technical College baseball opened up its postseason Friday by splitting a pair of road games against Moraine Valley and hosting Elgin to help advance themselves further into the 2025 NJCAA Region 4 Division II Baseball Tournament.

In its postseason debut against Moraine Valley, the Stormers edged the Cyclones, 4-3, in nine innings before going on to suffer an 8-0 shutout loss in seven innings against the Spartans.

Having gone 1-1 on the day, MATC still managed to advance further into the postseason by guaranteeing its spot in Saturday's 11 a.m. contest against Elgin. In order to advance further than Saturday, MATC will have to best the Spartans in back-to-back efforts to win the three-team sectional.

"I'm glad we are advancing tomorrow and it's a new day and we're excited to go out and compete," MATC head coach Caleb Bounds said.

The winners of the sectional tournaments will then advance to a four-team, double-elimination tournament on May 15-17 at the site of the highest remaining seed. The champion of the double-elimination tournament will qualify as the NJCAA Midwest District Champion for the 2025 NJCAA Division II Baseball World Series at David Allen Memorial Ballpark in Enid, Oklahoma, on May 24-31.

Game 1: Stormers 4, Moraine Valley 3 (9 Innings)

• MATC claimed a one-run win despite being outhit 5-3 and totaling three defensive errors
• Moraine Valley took a 2-0 lead in the top of the third off an RBI single and a sac-fly
• Camdin Jansen barreled a clutch two-out two-run home run in the third to put the Stormers on the scoreboard
• Robert Crawford III smacked a much-needed, two-out, two-RBI single with the bases-loaded in the bottom of the fourth that helped give the Stormers a 4-2 lead midway through the contest
• Back-to-back defensive errors in the top of the eighth helped the Cyclones plate a run to trim MATC's lead to 4-3
• MATC closer Ethan Engelbrecht claimed the save after firing a scoreless inning in the top of the ninth
• MATC starter Luke Klekamp earned the win, allowing three runs (two earned) on five hits over 7 and ⅓ innings, striking out six and walking three Jansen went 1-for-4 with a two-run blast to help lead the Stormers at the plate Brady
• Johnson went 1-for-4 with a single and a run scored
• Carlito Collins chipped in three drawn walks out of four plate appearances
• "I was happy with Game 1," Bounds said. "We had great timely hitting and Klekamp was nails like he has been all season long! It was a great team win."

Game 2: Elgin 8, Stormers 0 (7 Innings) 

• The Stormers left six runners on base and totaled as many hits (2) as they did defensive errors (2)
• Elgin went up 2-0 in the bottom of the third following back-to-back errors by MATC's defense
• Elgin recorded an RBI single and an two-RBI double in the sixth to extend its lead to 5-0
• Five free bases via a walk or hit-by-pitch helped the Spartans plate three runs in the seventh to effectively end the game via mercy-rule
• Camdin Jansen and Cole Wissen each had one single to collectively pace the Stormers with the sticks
• Brady Johnson had one walk in two plate appearances
• MATC's ace Michael Merline took the loss, giving up five hits and five runs (three earned) over 5 and ⅓ innings, striking out a pair and walking three
• Colin Weist tossed ⅔ innings of scoreless relief
• Alex Dvorak allowed three runs on one hit and two walks over ⅔ innings of relief action
• Connor Ziman also saw action on the mound, but he never recorded a single out
• "Game 2 we just had a couple of plays not go our way," Bounds said. "We have to continue to put together good at-bats and also fill up the zone as pitchers. It's tough to beat really good teams when you just give them free bases both from pitching and defense."

UP NEXT
MATC (35-22) will remain in Elgin to compete against the Spartans at 11 a.m. Saturday. If the Stormers were to win that game, then they would have to defeat Elgin again at 2 p.m. to win the sectional championship.