Kirkwood Baseball Battles in Region 11 Tournament Before Falling Short

Carroll, IA- The Kirkwood Eagles entered the 2025 NJCAA Division II Region 11 Baseball Tournament as the 3 seed, determined to make a deep postseason run. Playing at Merchant's Park in Carroll, Iowa, the Eagles fought through three tough matchups, ultimately falling just short of advancing.

Kirkwood opened the tournament on May 8 against 6-seed Northeast and struggled to generate offense in a 7-1 loss. Despite drawing eight walks, the Eagles were limited to just three hits. Lane Spieker drove in the team's lone run with an RBI double in the sixth. The pitching trio of Boede Rahe, Reece Wrage, and Grant Miller combined to strike out six over nine innings, but defensive miscues and timely hits from Northeast gave them the edge.

Facing elimination later that night, Kirkwood responded with a dominant 11-6 win over 4-seed Ellsworth. Addison Binnie powered the offense with a four-RBI performance, including a three-run homer in the second inning. Jaxon Schumacher also went deep with a three-run shot of his own, while Landon Frost and Blake Lundholm chipped in RBIs. On the mound, Jackson Niederwerder earned the win in relief, striking out seven. 

The Eagles returned the next day for a rematch with Northeast and came out firing, scoring four runs through the first three innings. Frost homered, and Schumacher crushed a three-run shot to give Kirkwood early momentum. Starter Beau Leisure tossed seven solid innings, allowing just one earned run. However, a four-run rally by Northeast in the eighth inning erased Kirkwood's lead, and the Eagles couldn't recover in a narrow 5-4 defeat.