The two-time USA South Conference Tournament champions are headed to Newport News, Va., on Friday to begin play in the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament, which runs through Sunday.
North Carolina Wesleyan University (33-11) is the No. 3 seed in the Newport News Super Regional and will open the tournament at 1:30 p.m. on Friday against No. 2 seed Scranton (Pennsylvania) (30-11), the Landmark Conference champion, at Christopher Newport University.
Game One will feature No. 1 seed Christopher Newport (26-9) against No. 4 seed Immaculata (26-16) at 10 a.m.
The losers of those two Friday games play at 11 a.m. on Saturday at 11 a.m., followed by the winners at 2:30 p.m. Game Five, an elimination game, is scheduled for Saturday at 6 p.m.
The regional final will be played at 11 a.m. on Sunday. An “if necessary” contest would be played 45 minutes after the first game.
The schedule is subject to change in the event inclement weather intervenes.
Wesleyan has won five straight games, including a two-game sweep over Brevard last weekend in the USAS Conference Tournament Championship Series. The Bishops are one of 39 automatic qualifiers in the 60-team field; the others are at-large selections.
Wesleyan carries a team batting average of .329 into the Super Regional. In 44 games, the Bishops have amassed 502 hits, 415 runs, 94 doubles, 12 triples, 46 home runs and 362 runs batted in.
Davie Morgan bats .420 (63-for-150) with 16 doubles, two triples, eight homers and 51 RBI.
Tyson Bass, the USAS Conference Player of the Year and tournament most valuable player, leads the team in homers with 20 and RBI with 56. He is batting .359 (69-for-192) with eight doubles and four triples and is 29-for-30 in stolen bases.
Other major offensive threats include Alex Moskal (.,392, 11 doubles, one HR, 31 RBI and 17 of 21 in stolen bases), Jackson Hobbs (.397, five HR, 34 RBI); Maison Nance (23 RBI), Colin Scoggins (five doubles, three HR, 33 RBI), Javier Quintana (.337, five doubles, two HR, 32 RBI), Drifton Padgett (.376, 10 doubles, two triples, 22 RBI), Blake Scott (.348, five doubles, two HR, 17 RBI) and Jaiden Barker (.280, six doubles, two triples, four HR, 30 RBI).
On the mound, Wesleyan is led by USAS Conference Pitcher of the Year Cord Butler (11-0, 2.68 ERA, 105 strikeouts and 48 walks in 84 innings pitched), Chandler Padgett (7-1, 4.24 ERA, 70 strikeouts and 38 walks in 68 innings) and Andrew Tubb (5-1, 4.48 ERA, 64 strikeouts and 21 walks in 68.1 innings).
Wesleyan’s first opponent, Scranton, has won three straight games entering the Newport News Super Regional. It won three straight to take the Landmark Conference Tournament (25-5 over Catholic University followed by a sweep, 7-3 and 9-2, over Elizabethtown College).
Scranton is collectively batting .295 in 41 games with 73 doubles, nine triples and nine homers.
Jake Elston is the team’s top batter at .390 with nine doubles, three triples, a team-leading four homers and 39 RBI (second on the team) and is 12 of 13 in stolen bases.
Other offensive leaders for the Royals include Vincent Napolitano (.373, 27 RBI), John Zarnowski (.351, 55 RBI), Aldan Casey (.336, 21 RBI), Jack Heineman (.317, 35 RBI) and Matthew Querey (.304, six doubles, 17 RBI an 10-for-10 in stolen bases).
Scranton’s top pitchers include Daniel Johnson (6-0, 3.91 ERA, 51 strikeouts and 20 walks in 48.1 innings), Hunter Ralston (5-1, 4.38 ERA, 55 strikeouts and 14 walks in 63 innings) and Jason Carpenter (4-1, 1.78 ERA, 29 strikeouts and eight walks in 30.1 innings).
Wesleyan has some familiarity with the host, as the Bishops split two games with the Captains earlier this season. CNU won the first game 8-5 at home on April 9, but Wesleyan responded with a 10-5 victory at home on April 23.
Among the top offensive players for the Captains include Josh Reinhold (.358, 10 doubles, 32 RBI), Lincoln Lubsen (.344, team-leading seven homers, 47 RBI), Zach Dzarnowski (.330, eight doubles, 29 RBI), Scott Crosson (.328, 10 doubles), Doc Daniels (.323, five homers, 37 RBI) and Ayden Stuffel (.308, 18 RBI).
CNU is collectively batting .310 and has complied 380 hits (10.85 per game).
Pitching-wise, the Captains have gotten 18 wins out of three hurlers: Dylan Weber (9-1, 1.35 ERA, 118 strikeouts and 24 walks in 80 innings), Brandon Cassedy (6-3, 4.19 ERA, 96 strikeouts and 17 walks in 62.1 innings) and Hack Braley (3-0, 5.75 ERA, 27 strikeouts, 19 walks in 40.2 innings). Kyle Lewis has five saves and is 3-0 with an 0,86 ERA in 21 innings with 34 strikeouts and just seven walks.
The Immaculata Mighty Macs have also won three straight going into the Super Regional.
Joey Wright is the Mighty Macs’ top batter at .394 with nine home runs and 54 RBI, both team highs. Hunter Weitzel carries a .367 average with 25 RBI, while Josh Crowding bats .350 with 33 RBI.
Other top offensive players include Shawn Haut (.346, 11 doubles, five homers, 36 RBI, 14 of 15 in stolen bases), Ryan Struble (.322, 10 doubles, 34 RBI), Steven Theisen (.312, seven doubles, 25 RBI), Joey Sacco (.308, 22 RBI, 11-for-13 in stolen bases) and Sal Serici (.306, 23 RBI, 10-for-12 in stolen bases).
Immaculata is collectively batting .329 and has 464 hits (11 per game).
On the mound, the Mighty Macs are led by Stephen DiBattista (9-3, 2.62 ERA, 41 strikeouts, 27 walks in 79 innings), Jason Hughes (5-4, 3.30 ERA, 75 strikeouts, 27 walks in 71 frames) and Alex LePage (5-2, 4.20 ERA, 48 strikeouts, 15 walks in 49.1 innings).
North Carolina Wesleyan head coach Greg Clifton is hoping the Bishops can continue their late-season momentum that have seen them win 11 of their last 12 games.
“We are just playing and pitching better right now,” Clifton said. “We have an experienced group that love each other and play hard. We just need to keep doing what we are doing.
“All of the teams are extremely talented. We really work hard on staying locked in on the next pitch and moving on from mistakes. We will need to do that along with playing solid defense to advance.”
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