Christendom's men's rugby team continued their strong 7s performance so far this spring, winning 3 of 4 games at the Mooseman 7s Premier Qualifier tournament in Tennessee over the weekend. Meanwhile, back at home, the men's baseball team grabbed their first wins of the season — including a dramatic walk-off win on Saturday night.
Just a few weeks back, the men's rugby team punched their ticket to the Collegiate Rugby Championship, sweeping through their competition in the Small College Northeast Regional tournament to become the first men's small college to earn their spot for Nationals. This weekend, they continued their preparation for the big dance, traveling to Tennessee to compete against stiff competition in the Mooseman 7s Premier Qualifier tournament.
The team started their day with their toughest matchup of the weekend, taking on Virginia Tech. Virginia jumped on the board first with a try, before John Kennedy tied the game up at 5-5 at the end of the first half. The hard-fought game went the other way immediately to start the second half, with Virginia going up 12-5. Joseph Kokes put Christendom back in the running with a try, but a missed kick cost Christendom. They ultimately lost 12-10 in the first round, despite a valiant effort against a tough opponent.
From there, Christendom refused to allow a single try against them the rest of the day. In their second matchup, they shut out St. Louis University 26-0, with tries scored by High Wingate, Thomas Santschi, and Kennedy. Their third matchup? Another shutout, this time against Cincinnati. Wingate, Kokes, and Aganze Nkere all scored for Christendom, leading the team to a 33-0 win.
Their final matchup of the day against the hosting team, Middle Tennessee State University, played out nearly the exact same way. Santschi, Nkere, and Sebastian Bise all scored for Christendom and the defense took care of the rest from there, giving the team a 32-0 victory. Across the four games, Christendom outscored their opponents 101-12 — putting them in prime position for the Collegiate Rugby Championship at the end of April.
Back home on the baseball diamond, the men's baseball team looked to capture their first win of the season after a tough 0-5 start. Taking on Williamson in a double-header at Bing Crosby Stadium, Christendom jumped to their first lead of the season in the third inning, putting 4 runs on the board. They followed that up with an even more impressive fifth inning, scoring 5 times and giving Thomas Sullivan — who pitched five strong innings, striking out five and only allowing two hits — a nice cushion. Williamson jumped all over Christendom in the sixth inning, however, scoring 7 times, before Luke Roman and John Skuba stopped the bleeding. Christendom ultimately won 9-7, their first win of the season.
In the second game of the double-header, Christendom piled on Williamson in the first inning, putting seven runs across the plate before the inning finally came to a close. Williamson, however, refused to back down, scoring once in the third and 9 times in the fourth inning, giving them a 10-7 lead. Down to their final three outs, Christendom managed to tie everything up in the seventh, pushing the game to extra innings. In the bottom of the eighth, Skuba punched in the winning run to walk-off another win for Christendom, completing the doubleheader sweep.