INDIANAPOLIS – After awaiting its postseason fate, the Pacific Lutheran baseball team has been selected as the second seed in the South Region and will travel to Demorest, Georgia, to begin play Wednesday in the six-team double-elimination tournament, the NCAA announced.
The NCAA released its 56-team tournament field early Monday morning, with the teams split between eight regional sites. Four of the regional tournaments have eight teams, while the other four have six teams, with the eight winners of the respective double-elimination tournaments earning the right to advance to the championship at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin, May 22-26.
For Pacific Lutheran, the berth marks the second time in program history that the Lutes have earned a postseason spot. PLU advanced to the West Region Tournament in 2007 and won its first two games before falling to host Chapman in consecutive contests to finish second. That team won the program's first Northwest Conference title and became the first 30-win squad in program history, both feats matched by the 2015 team.
The Lutes, 30-12 overall this season, claimed their third NWC regular-season crown since 2007 with an 18-6 conference record and were ranked first in the West Region in each of the three public regional rankings. They will open postseason play Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. EST against Emory at Piedmont College's Loudermilk Field. Top-seeded Rhodes will take on sixth-seeded Methodist in Wednesday's first game at 12 p.m., with third-seeded Birmingham-Southern and fourth-seeded Marietta wrapping up the day at 7 p.m.
PLU, ranked 21st in the d3baseball.com Top 25, earned the program's first at-large selection to the NCAA regional tournament (the 2007 team earned the conference's automatic bid) and brings a balanced team to Georgia. The Lutes ranked among the top of the Northwest Conference in both pitching and offense, as the pitching staff's 3.22 team earned run average is the third-best in team history and the offense has compiled a .301 batting average to go with a .387 on-base percentage and a .420 slugging percentage.
Landon Packard leads the Lutes with a .350 batting average, while Collin Nilson boasts a team-best .570 slugging percentage and 41 runs batted in and ranks among the PLU single-season top-10 in both home runs (7) and doubles (14). Curtis Wildung leads the team with a .446 on-base percentage. Chris Bishop fronts the starting rotation with a 7-2 record and 3.19 earned run average, while Kyle Rossman leads all PLU starters with a 2.51 ERA and has thrown three complete games. AJ Konopaski ranks among the national leaders with 10 saves and owns a 1.64 ERA.
Wednesday's game will be the first time PLU has ever faced Emory, as the Lutes have never before played any of the other five teams in the South Region Tournament. Emory won the South Region Tournament last season and advanced all the way to the championship series before finishing second to NCAA Div. III champion Wisconsin-Whitewater. This year the Eagles finished the regular-season with a 26-12 record and ranked fourth in the South Region. While PLU will be traveling the furthest of any team in the tournament – nearly 2,800 miles – Emory will have only a 75-mile bus trip from its Atlanta-based campus.
Emory owns a .291 team batting average to go with a .370 on-base percentage and a .379 slugging percentage. Philip Maldari leads the team with a .370 average and a .541 slugging percentage on the strength of 18 doubles. Wes Peacock has hit a team-best three home runs and stolen 15 bases, while Dylan Eisner has compiled a team-high .437 on-base percentage. Four Emory players have stolen more than 10 bases, with the team totaling 99 stolen bases this season on 114 attempts. Jackson Weeg leads the pitching staff with a 2.10 earned run average in 11 starts with 74 strikeouts. As a team, the Eagles own a 3.56 ERA.
Top-seeded Rhodes makes a 500-mile trip from Memphis and comes into the tournament ranked second in the South Region and eighth in the Top 25. The Lynx are 32-11 overall and claimed the Southern Athletic Association title. They bat .299 as a team with a .381 on-base percentage and a .376 slugging percentage while compiling a 2.42 earned run average that leads all of NCAA Div. III this season. They boast three of the most successful starting pitchers in the nation this season with Daniel Morris (9-0, 1.36 ERA), Adam Putnam (9-2, 1.47 ERA) and Blake Glauben (6-3, 2.36 ERA). Glauben has served double-duty for the Lynx, also leading the team with five saves this season. On offense the Lynx have combined to hit only three home runs this year, while Bill Munson leads the squad in average (.335), on-base percentage (.431) and slugging percentage (.494) to go with a team-best 18 doubles and 43 stolen bases in 50 chances. As a team, the Lynx have stolen 100 bases.
Rhodes will take on sixth-seeded Methodist, which won the USA South Athletic Conference and ranks 12th in the Top 25 while not ranking among the top six in the region. Located in Fayetteville, N.C., Methodist compiled a 32-8 record this season while ranking 12th in the nation in team ERA (2.89) and adding an offense that batted .328 with a .419 on-base percentage and .436 slugging percentage. Travis Johnson and Josh Howard combined to start 27 games and posted almost identical stat lines: Johnson finished the regular season with an 8-1 record and 2.66 ERA in 81.1 innings while striking out 65 batters, while Howard's record was 8-1 with a 2.76 ERA in 81.2 innings with 66 strikeouts. Alex Rodriguez leads the Monarchs with a .377 batting average, while Ray Lanners is one point behind and boasts top team marks in on-base (.481) and slugging (568).
Wednesay's final game will match third-seeded Birmingham-Southern and fourth-seeded Marietta. Birmingham-Southern ranks sixth in the Top 25 and third in the South Region after compiling a 34-10-1 regular-season record. The Panther offense put up a .287/.363/.375 line, while the pitching staff compiled a 2.90 earned run average. Taylor McCracken led the team in average (.337), on-base percentage (.422) and stolen bases (26), while Jacob Mayfield slugged a team-best .543 with 16 doubles, six home runs and 48 runs batted in. Blake Stevens ranks 10th in the nation in ERA (1.14) and fourth in strikeouts (97) while earning an 8-2 record.
Marietta travels 500 miles from Ohio for the tournament as the Ohio Athletic Conference champion. The Pioneers rank seventh in the Mideast Region with a 28-16 record and rely on an offense that has put up a .315/.408/.442 line this season. Ryan Hanahan leads the team with a .384 average, .460 on-base percentage and .676 slugging percentage to go with team-high totals in home runs (9), triples (5), doubles (17) and runs batted in (58). The Pioneer pitching staff has compiled a 4.06 earned run average, with Christian Herstine leading the way at 1.79 in 85.2 innings over 15 appearanes with 10 starts. Herstine owns a 6-3 record.
Wednesday's first slate of competition will include one game for each team. If PLU wins Wednesday, the Lutes will play at 7 p.m. on Thursday against the winner of the Birmingham-Southern/Marietta game. If the Lutes lose Wednesday, they will play Thursday at 12 p.m. against the loser of the Rhodes/Methodist contest.
Complimentary live stats and live video will be available for all games courtesy of Piedmont College. The full tournament schedule, complete with links to live stats and video, NCAA information and more is available at the South Region Tournament homepage.
