WOODLAWN — Tyler Lorenzini’s single to left chased home Brier Van Eyke to cap a three-run seventh inning, giving Woodlawn a 5-4 win over new Egyptian Illini Conference mate Brownstown/St. Elmo in the Cardinals’ fall baseball home opener.

Woodlawn joined both the EIC and National Trail Conference for this fall baseball season only, in a move to secure more games under the return to play rules set forth by the IHSA during the pandemic.

The Cardinals held leads of 1-0 and 2-1 but watched the Bombers take the lead with three runs in the top of the sixth. BSE scored the tying run on a throwing error, then scored two more runs on bases loaded walks. Lorenzini, the Cardinals’ third pitcher of the inning, came on and got out of trouble by getting Dalton Myers to bounce into an inning ending double play.

That turned out to be huge as the Cardinals mounted a rally in their final at bat. Hayden England’s RBI triple cut the deficit to 4-3. With the bases loaded, Jackson Tiemann was hit by a pitch to force in the tying run and set the stage for Lorenzini’s heroics.

The Cardinals improve to 2-0. They will travel to South Central out of the NTC for a doubleheader Saturday.