LONDON, Ont. – It took a pair of teams from outside Ontario, but the Western Mustangs were brought back to earth on Saturday at the 15th annual Canadian Intercollegiate Baseball Association (CIBA) National Championships in Oshawa, Ont.

Just 24 hours after beating St. Clair College in the tournament opener, the Mustangs were dealt a 6-0 loss by the Concordia Stingers. Western then dropped a 7-6 decision to the Cape Breton Capers in the afternoon to fall to 1-2 in the round-robin portion of the event.

The Mustangs haven’t been eliminated from the tournament, but they’ve got a long road ahead of them if they want to challenge for the 2009 CIBA title. Because of a three-way tie for fourth place, Western will get the chance to play a pair of tie-breaker games tomorrow morning in an attempt to move on to the semi-finals in the afternoon.

Western will play St. Clair at 9:00 a.m. in the first tie-breaker. If they win that, the ‘Stangs will move on to play Concordia at 12:00 p.m. in the second tie-breaker. Both games will be played at Kinsmen Stadium. Should Western win both of those contests, the team would then meet Ottawa in a semi-final at 3:00 p.m. The championship final is scheduled for 6:00 p.m. (vs. winner of Durham and Cape Breton).

Saturday provided the Mustangs with something they haven’t had to deal with in awhile: losing. Heading into action today, Western had won 14 of its last 15 games (most coming in OUA play).

But Concordia changed that early Saturday. The Stingers opened the scoring with a pair of runs in the third inning off Western starter Andrew Bergman to take a 2-0 lead. Bergman left in the fifth having allowed six hits over 4.1 innings. Unfortunately for the Mustangs, reliever Carlos Cabrero was promptly greeted with a three-run home run by Matt Langdon to put the Stingers up 5-0. They would score an insurance run in the sixth.  

Offensively, Western was kept in check by Concordia starting pitcher Julien Tucker, who threw six scoreless innings for the win. Tucker, a former minor-leaguer, previously spent time with five different MLB organizations during his pro career (reaching the Double-A level) before moving on to independent ball. The right-hander struck out 10 Mustangs during Saturday's outing.


Game 1 vs. Concordia Stingers (6-0 Stingers)
 
Mustangs    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    0    3    2
Stingers       0    0    2    0    3    1    X    6    9    1 


Though Western's second game on Saturday was much closer, the result was the same. And it was more disappointing since the 'Stangs blew a one-run lead in the seventh to lose 7-6 to the Cape Breton Capers.

Trailing 5-2 in the sixth, the Western offense rallied for three runs to tie the score before taking a 6-5 lead in the seventh on a sacrifice fly by catcher Kyle Harris that scored Shawn Robinson. But the Capers responded immediately in the home half, plating two for the win. Greg MacKinnon's RBI fielder's choice tied it up before Josh Spooney delivered a game-winning RBI single.

Matt Grasby, who made the start for the Mustangs, allowed four runs -- two earned -- on five hits and a pair of walks over 3.1 innings of work. He also struck out three Capers in the contest.


Game 2  vs. Cape Breton Capers (7-6 Capers)
 
Mustangs    1    0    0    0    1    3    1    6    9    2
Capers        1    0    0    3    1    0    2    7    5    3


Though not out of it, the Mustangs now have an immense task ahead of them en route to the final. In order to win the 2009 CIBA title, Western would have to win four straight games tomorrow – starting at 9:00 a.m.

A few numbers in Western's favour, however: four OUA titles over last five years; had won 14 of 15 games prior to Saturday's losses; have posted two separate seven-game winning streaks this year; previously swept a 4-game weekend series this year (though not on one day).

Saturday's scores:

Durham 19  Cape Breton 11
Ottawa 6  St. Clair 5
Concordia 6  Western 0 
St. Clair 15  Durham 6
Cape Breton 7  Western 6
Durham 2  Concordia 1
Cape Breton 3  Ottawa 0

Updated Standings after Saturday:

Pool A
Ottawa (2-1)
Durham (2-1)
Western (1-2)

Pool B
Cape Breton (2-1)
St. Clair (1-2)
Concordia (1-2)

Sunday Schedule:

(Tie-breaker #1): Western vs. St. Clair at 9:00 a.m., Kinsmen Stadium
(Tie-breaker #2): Winner of Tie-breaker #1 vs. Concordia at 12:00 p.m., Kinsmen Stadium

Semi-Final #1: Durham vs. Cape Breton at 12:00 p.m., Kirky Field
Semi-Final #2: Ottawa vs. winner of Tie-breaker #2) at 3:00 p.m., Kinsmen Stadium

CIBA Championship Final:
Winner of Semi-Final #1 vs. Winner of Semi-Final #2 at 6:00 p.m., Kinsmen Stadium