The LaGrange College baseball team begins its quest for a NCAA Division III national championship Friday at Perfect Game Field in Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Panthers (42-7) take on Trinity (Texas) (37-11) at 8:45 EDT.
The fourth-ranked Panthers have won a fifth straight USA South title, then had to overcome the tragic loss of teammates Stephen Bartolotta and Jacob Brown to win a regional championship and last weekend a super regional to get to this point. Winning the regional and super regional were program firsts.
The Panthers are playing in their first Division III World Series. They are seeded third in the eight-team tournament. The Panthers are in Bracket #2 with #2 Eastern Connecticut State, Trinity the #6 seed, and #7 Baldwin-Wallace.
Trinity is making its third Division III World Series appearance and in the NCAA tournament for the 14th time. The Tigers won the 2016 national title. Trinity comes into the game ranked 15th nationally. The Tigers beat Texas-Dallas 3-1 in their best-of-five regional, then swept Birmingham-Southern in the super regional. Trinity has scored 78 runs and allowed 78 runs in their six NCAA games.
Trinity first baseman MJ Metz was on both the D3baseball.com and the ABCA/Rawlings all-region teams. Metz leads the team with a .389 batting average, 65 runs scored, a .727 slugging percentage, and 21 stolen bases. Catcher Tyler Pettit was named to the D3baseball.com All-America fifth team. He is batting .366 with 10 home runs, 36 RBIs and a .710 slugging percentage. Left fielder Brian Schaub is a transfer from Division I LaSalle. Schaub leads the team with 16 home runs and 61 RBIs. The Tigers have hit 66 home runs this season.
On the mound, sophomore right-hander Joseph Chavana is 10-1 with a 4.11 ERA. He has thrown four complete games, two shutouts, and has two saves. Chavana has struck out 74 in 85-1/3 innings of work. Fellow sophomore Harrison Durow is 7-0 with a 5.73 ERA and leads the team with four saves. He has 62 strikeouts in 44 innings. As a team, Trinity has a 6.06 ERA.
For the Panthers, third baseman Joe Ruth and outfielder McKinley Erves were named to the D3baseball.com All-America team. Ruth, Erves, relief pitcher Jacob Brown, and first baseman Jack Layrisson were on both the D3baseball.com All-Region 6 and ABCA/Rawlings Region 6 teams. Starting pitcher Baley Coleman and shortstop Cael Chatham were on the ABCA/Rawlings Region 6 teams.
Ruth leads NCAA Division III this season with 101 hits. He needs three more hits to set a new single-season Division III record. Erves has set a new Division III single season record with 90 runs scored. Layrisson is the Division III career leader with 26 sacrifice flies.
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