Shreveport, La. – The Columbia College baseball team was back in action today as they continued play in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round bracket. In day three of the opening round, the fourth seed Cougars got a second chance to go against the fifth seed York (Neb.) College Panthers who beat the Cougars on the first day of the Opening Round to put them in the elimination bracket. It was a wild game between the two teams as they tied the game three times. The Cougars fell short in the final inning as they lost to the Panthers 9-8. Columbia finishes 31-23 on the season.
 
The Panthers started the second inning with a solo homerun followed by three more runs to take the lead 4-0. The Cougars got on the board in the sixth as both Ethan Howser and Kenny Piper hit to left and Joshua Miller and Hayden Ludwig scored, respectively. The Cougars had found themselves in the same situation they had been in all Opening Round. Columbia was down, and in the top of the eighth inning they came back fighting to take their first lead of the game. Chase Urhahn hit a sacrifice fly to center field and Nolan Rattai scored. Piper followed that with a double to left-center and Howser added another run. The Cougars then had the bases loaded as the Panther's pitcher unintentionally walked Bradley Prebay and scored Piper. York responded right away in the bottom of the eight with two runs to take the lead back, 6-5. The Cougars had one out as they got the bases loaded in the ninth inning. Bealmer was up to bat and hit to shortstop and Howser made it to home plate to tie the game. It was day one all over again as the Cougars and the Panthers found themselves tied in the ninth. A wild pitch from York scored Urhahn while a wild throw from the York catcher scored Bealmer. Columbia had taken the lead from York once again. The Panthers were up to bat in the ninth and hit a two run homerun to tie the game again at eight. Back-to-back hits from York scored another run as they handed the Cougars the loss to end their season.
 
Andrew Baker (1-0) was the starting pitcher for the Cougars and was relieved by Josiah Imhoff (5-2) who struck out two batters in 5.2 innings of play. Imhoff was then relieved by Jordan Copeland (3-0), Lane Threlkeld (1-0), Conner Darnell (4-3), Tanner Beatty (1-0), and Reid Browning (3-1). Offensively, the Cougars were led by Kenny Piper who had two hits while scoring a run and had two RBI, Ethan Howser who had two hits while scoring two runs and had one RBI, and Chase Urhahn who had a hit while scoring a run and had one RBI to round up the top performers.
 
This concludes the season for the Cougars. They ended the season with a 31-23 record as they made their first appearance in the NAIA National Championship Opening Round in program history. Thank you once again to all the seniors for all your hard work, dedication, and for helping build this program. Congratulations on a phenomenal season.