KOKOMO, Ind. – The first day of the 2025 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference (HCAC) Baseball Tournament was held on Thursday at Kokomo Municipal Stadium, with No. 1 Manchester University and No. 2 Anderson University advancing unbeaten into the second day of the championship.
 
2025 HCAC Baseball Championship Page
 
In the first game of the day, the No. 3 seed Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers took care of No. 6 Franklin College by a score of 3-2. The Engineers are set to face No. 2 Anderson in the nightcap, slated for 7:45 p.m. 
 
In Thursday's game two, No. 5 seeded Mount St. Joseph defeated No. 5 Transylvania 7 - 6 in a tight matchup that had the Lions with an early lead and Transylvania's rally in the bottom of the fifth cut short. 

In the third matchup, the top seed, Manchester, took the field to take on game two's winner (Mount St. Joseph), which went into extra innings after being tied 2-2. In a thriller of an extra 10th inning where the Lions pulled ahead 5-2 at the top of the 10th, Manchester rallied in the bottom of the inning to score 4 runs to take home the win by a final score of 6 - 5. 

The final contest of the day took place between the Anderson Ravens and the Rose-Hulman Fightin' Engineers. The game was tied 2-2, going into the 8th inning where Anderson's bats found a hot streak and pulled away with 4 runs. The final score of the evening was 6-2, with the Ravens advancing to tomorrow to play rival, Manchester at approximately 4:30 p.m.

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.