The announced retirement of College of he Ozarks Baseball Head Coach Neale Richardson is on hold while the Bobcats continue a strong postseason run.
The full story below is from College of the Ozarks Sports Information:
College of the Ozarks pulled away late Saturday, beating Southwestern Christian 14-4 in eight innings in the NCCAA Central Regional Championship in Ozark, Missouri, and clinching a berth in the 2026 NCCAA World Series in Kansas City on May 16-20. The decisive blow came in the bottom of the eighth, when Craig Busse launched a three-run home run and Chase Robertson followed later with a two-run double to cap a five-run finish.
Southwestern Christian struck first in the top of the first when Royce Florenzano reached on an error that brought home a run for a 1-0 lead. The Bobcats answered immediately. Aaron Fisher lifted a sacrifice fly to score Alex Nimmo, and Brody Baumann followed with an RBI double that brought home Hunter Lewis and put College of the Ozarks in front 2-1 by the end of the inning. The Bobcats added another run in the second and one more in the fourth to keep control as the game moved into the middle innings.
The game turned more sharply in the sixth. College of the Ozarks put together a four-run inning to stretch the margin to 8-2. Ty Rush drove in a run on a groundout, Hunter Lewis added a sacrifice RBI on a suicide squeeze, Aaron Fisher delivered a run-scoring single and Brody Tyler followed with another RBI hit. That sequence gave the Bobcats needed separation after Southwestern Christian had stayed within reach through the first five innings.
Southwestern Christian made one last push in the seventh, scoring twice on RBI groundouts from Eliam Dudamel and Dario Paredes to trim the deficit to 8-4. College of the Ozarks did not let the pressure linger. The Bobcats answered in the bottom of the inning and then broke the game open in the eighth, finishing with 15 hits, four doubles, one home run and seven walks while also stealing three bases.
Rush led the offensive effort with three hits, three RBIs, one run scored, a double and a walk. Robertson finished with two hits, three RBIs, a double and two walks, while Busse drove in three runs with his late homer and scored twice. Broden Mabe added two hits and scored three times as College of the Ozarks consistently created traffic on the bases. Fisher also played a key role in the middle of the order with a sacrifice fly and a run-scoring single.
On the mound, Chandler Eubanks earned the win for the Bobcats after working 5.1 innings and allowing two runs on eight hits. College of the Ozarks pitchers combined to cover all eight innings, giving up 10 hits and four earned runs while limiting the damage after Southwestern Christian's early and late scoring chances. Braden Tucker took the loss for Southwestern Christian, whose staff allowed 14 runs, 13 earned, across 7.2 innings. With the regional championship secured, the Bobcats now move on as the Central Region champion to the NCCAA World Series in Kansas City.
