The bats were loud, the arms were steady, and the Arcadia Knights opened the 2025 NCAA Division III Tournament with a statement.
Will Conroy gave Arcadia six solid innings, Derek Rivera reached base four times, and the Knights capitalized on a string of Centre College miscues to run away with an 11-3 win on Friday afternoon at Case Western Reserve University. It was the opening act of the Cleveland Regional, and Arcadia played it like headliners.
The win pushes Arcadia to 29-15, while 16th-ranked Centre falls to 30-10. And for all the hype surrounding the Colonels, it was the Knights who set the tone and never let up.
Centre actually struck first, plating a run in the bottom of the first inning. But any momentum was short-lived. In the third, Arcadia unleashed a six-run rally that began with a little small ball and turned into something bigger. Max Oswald dropped down a sacrifice bunt that turned into a two-run gift when the throw sailed away, allowing Rivera and Kevin Wheeler to cross the plate. Then Anthony Bruno singled through a drawn-in infield to bring home Oswald.
From there, the inning spiraled for Centre. More errors, more Knights crossing the plate, and suddenly it was 6-1 before the Colonels knew what hit them.
Centre chipped away with a run in the fourth, but Arcadia continued to tack on. Joshua Agriesti grounded out to bring home Noah Stennett in the seventh. In the eighth, Oswald delivered again—this time with an RBI single to right, followed by Stennett’s double to the same side, scoring Bruno. And just for good measure, Agriesti doubled to right-center in the ninth to drive in two more.
Conroy was steady, scattering seven hits over six innings while striking out six. Cam Nebel shut the door with a three-inning save, allowing just one run down the stretch—his second save of the year.
So now the Knights move one step closer, with the bats awake, the arms ready, and an opening-round performance that certainly turned some heads in Cleveland.
