LA CROSSE, Wis. - The Ripon baseball team's recent hot streak came to an end Friday afternoon, as they were eliminated from the NCAA Midwest Regional Tournament with a 6-5 loss to Concordia-Chicago, ending their season with 14 wins in their last 18 games including a victory over third-ranked and top-seeded UW-Whitewater. The Red Hawks led by two runs against Concordia-Chicago at two different points in Friday's game, while also leaving the bases loaded in the bottom of the ninth.

Ripon (24-16) got out to an early lead in the bottom of the first, scoring two runs on three hits, but leaving the bases loaded. Dakotah Kirchenwitz scored the team's first run when Nate Siudak drew a bases loaded walk, before Nick Uhen was hit by a pitch with the bases loaded, allowing Nick Kita to score.

Concordia-Chicago (32-14) took their first lead with a three-run third, as they were assisted by a Ripon fielding error. That lead lasted until the fifth when Ripon scored three runs of their own. Siudak gave the Red Hawks a 4-3 lead with a two-run double, before Randy Finger delivered a pinch-hit single to score Siudak from second base.

Ripon led until the seventh inning when Concordia-Chicago scored three runs on three hits, with the big blow coming on a two-out single that drove in a pair of runs to give the Cougars a 6-5 advantage. In the bottom of the ninth, the Red Hawks loaded the bases with two outs on a hit by pitch and a pair of walks, but a hard hit line drive right at the shortstop ended the game and the Red Hawks' season.

The Red Hawks finished with 11 hits, but left 13 runners on base. Kita led the team with two hits, while Siudak drove in a team-high three runs. Matt Hecht (3-5) started and pitched well for much of his 6.1 innings, allowing five earned runs on eight hits, while striking out four and walking just one.

The 2015 Red Hawks finish the season ranking fifth in program history in doubles (82), tied for sixth in triples (13), seventh in total bases (612), eighth in hits (423), and tied for ninth in home runs (27), while breaking the program's pitching record for strikeouts in a season (271), and third in fielding percentage (.963), tied for fourth in saves (5), seventh in double plays (29), tied for seventh in shutouts (3), and tied for 10th in ERA (3.92).