KOKOMO, Ind. – Manchester University followed their regular season baseball title by claiming the 2025 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Baseball Championship on Saturday, defeating Transylvania University 7-3 to win it's first HCAC Baseball tournament title since 2013.
 
2025 HCAC Baseball Championship Page
 
For the first game of the day, it was a matchup between No. 2 Seed Anderson and No. 4 Seeded Transylvania for a spot to move on and compete for this year's Championship. The game was even in matchup for the first two innings entering into the 3rd inning 2-2, but in the bottom of the third inning, the momentum would shift in the Pioneer's favor. They would go on to score 13 additional runs, which helped the Pioneers defeat the Ravens 15-6. 

The Pioneers would go on to advance to the HCAC Championship Matchup against the Manchester Spartans. The game was back and forth while the Spartans held a 3-1 lead entering the eighth inning, where the Pioneers fought back, tying the score 3-3. Manchester would find their way out of the inning without giving up the lead. At the top of the 9th, Manchester found themselves with one run score and bases loaded when Max Horner (Goshen, Ind.) stepped up to the plate. Horner tripled to right center, driving in three runs which gave the Spartans a four-run lead. 

The Spartans would hold off the Pioneer's bats in the bottom of the 9th, ending the day with the 7-3 HCAC Championship victory. 

With the Championship title, the Manchester Spartans earn the HCAC automatic qualification bid to the Division III NCAA Championship. They will find out their draw in the tournament on Monday.  

Manchester First Year Max Horner (Goshen, Ind.) was crowned the Tournament's Most Valuable Player with 5 hits and 5 RBIs on the weekend, including his game winning triple leading his team to the HCAC Tournament title. The HCAC also recognizes an All-Tournament Team for the baseball tournament, which can be found listed below.

2025 HCAC Baseball All-Tournament Team (Listed alphabetically by last name):

Gabe Dillard	Transylvania University
Josh Girvan	Franklin College
Rocco Hanes	Manchester University
Max Horner (Tournament MVP)	Manchester University
Joel Kennedy	Manchester University
Jake Sanders	Mount St. Joseph University
Landon Southern	Anderson University
Brady Strawmyer	Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology
Brendan Tabor	Anderson University
Austin Taylor	Transylvania University

For more information on HCAC Baseball, visit the websites of any of the participating schools, or go to the HCAC's home on the internet at www.heartlandconf.org. Be sure to stay up to date on all of your Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference news by following @HCACDIII on X and by liking the "HCAC DIII" Facebook page.