Arcadia jumped out early, held on late, and moved one win away from a conference crown.
The Knights got four runs in the first four innings and leaned on solid pitching to claim a 4–3 victory over top-seeded Stevens on Saturday in Game 1 of the 2025 MAC Freedom Championship in Hoboken. With the win, Arcadia improves to 27–15 and takes a 1–0 lead in the best-of-three series. Stevens drops to 28–15 and now faces elimination.
Arcadia broke through in the second when Joshua Agriesti lifted a fly ball to left that caught the wind and just cleared the temporary fencing for a two-run homer, scoring Jake Hendershot. Hendershot added an RBI single in the third, driving in Anthony Bruno to push the lead to 3–0. An inning later, Derek Rivera drilled a solo shot to right-center to make it 4–0.
Stevens threatened in the third, loading the bases on a pair of walks and a two-out free pass to Chip Krese. But Jack Reichlin’s flyout stranded all three. The Ducks finally broke through in the fifth when Liam DeRubertis ripped an RBI double down the left-field line, scoring Dylan Fishbough, who had reached on a fielder’s choice and swiped second.
That was all for Arcadia starter Will Conroy, who went 4.1 innings, allowing one run on three hits with three walks and three strikeouts. The bullpen held the line until the ninth.
With the score still 4–1, Stevens made one last push. Pinch hitter Quinton Sterling opened the ninth with a double, and a walk to Victor Schilleci set up a tense finish. After a groundout and a pop-up, DeRubertis again came through, singling up the middle to score both runners and cut the lead to one. He stole second to put the tying run in scoring position, but Krese flied out to left, ending the comeback and the game.
Cam Nebel earned the save by recording the final two outs, while Chris Balshuweit picked up the win in relief.
Arcadia now sits one win away from the MAC Freedom title and a berth in the NCAA Tournament. Game 2 is set for Sunday at 11 a.m., with a decisive Game 3—if needed—scheduled for 2:30 p.m.
