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2023 NCAA Baseball College World Series Preview

2023 NCAA Baseball Championship Preview

6/1/2023 11:00:00 AM

Troy Brohawn with Super Regional Trophy, 5-27-23

The Rundown

The second-ranked Salisbury University baseball team has punched its ticket to a third consecutive NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament Championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The Sea Gulls open their quest for a third straight finals berth in a pool-plate matchup against 19th-ranked East Texas Baptist on Friday, June 2, at 5:30 p.m. EDT.

2023 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Bracket

Live Video/Stats

SU Radio (All Games)

Salisbury Game Notes

Tournament Homepage

Tickets

NCAA Digital Program

Danny Sheeler, 5-26-23

#2 Danny Sheeler | 2023 Consensus Fourth-Team All-American, Consensus First-Team All-Region

The 2023 Sea Gulls

Jimmy Adkins, 5-26-23

#1 Jimmy Adkins | Consensus Second-Team All-Region

Kavi Caster, 3-8-23

#22 Kavi Caster | Consensus Second-Team All-Region

Jacob Ference, 5-27-23

#28 Jacob Ference | Consensus Third-Team All-Region

Stephen Rice, 5-27-23

#6 Stephen Rice | D3baseball.com Second-Team All-Region

Cameron Hyder, 5-27-23

#19 Cameron Hyder | ABCA/Rawlings Third-Team All-Region

Robbie Hollenbeck, 5-26-23

#29 Robbie Hollenbeck | ABCA/Rawlings Second-Team All-Region

Salisbury, 35-6, enters its third consecutive NCAA Baseball Championship with a 5-1 postseason record.
The Sea Gulls defeated Penn State Harrisburg three games to one in the two-team best-of-five Harrisburg Regional before sweeping two games against 23rd-ranked Rowan in the Salisbury Super Regional.
In Game One of the Super Regional, Salisbury scored the first eight runs of the game, including five in the first inning, and held off a late Profs run to win 10-6.
In Game Two, Rowan raced out to leads of 8-0 and 12-5 before the Sea Gulls erupted for eight in the eighth and four in the ninth to win 17-12 and punch their ticket to Cedar Rapids.
Salisbury has made eight appearances in the NCAA Baseball Championship (2001, ‘04, ’11, ‘14, ’15, ‘21, ’22, '23), posting an 11-12 record in the Division III World Series.
After going 3-10 in their first five appearances in the big stage, the Sea Gulls rattled off five straight wins in 2021 on the way to their first-ever national championship, defeating St. Thomas (Minn.) 6-1 and 4-2 in the final series.
In 2022 SU won three straight games to reach its second straight finals, setting a new record with eight consecutive Division III World Series victories, before falling in two straight to Eastern Connecticut State, 11-6 and 3-2.
Salisbury is the first team to make three straight NCAA Baseball Championships since Cortland and Emory in 2014-16. The Sea Gulls are aiming to become the first team since St. Thomas in 1999-2001 to make three straight appearances in the final series.
Salisbury has seen multiple program records fall during the 2023 season. Outfielder Cameron Hyder became the Sea Gulls' all-time leader in games (187), hits (266) and runs (202). Pitcher Corey Burton is now the SU recordholder in pitching appearances (76), and fellow hurler Jimmy Adkins owns the program record for innings pitched (312.1).
Jacob Ference and Danny Sheeler have each tied the SU single-season record with 13 home runs, drawing even with Dave Westervelt's mark from 1998. Salisbury has hit 62 home runs in 41 games as a team this season, breaking the program record of 56 set by the 2009 Sea Gulls in 46 games.
Several other records and milestones could be reached before the end of the season. Shortstop Stephen Rice is just one double from matching the program standard of 51, and Adkins is nine strikeouts away from becoming just the second Sea Gull to fan 300 for his career.
Salisbury leads NCAA Division III in scoring offense, averaging 11.2 runs per game, and also leads the nation in sacrifice bunts (55).
The Sea Gulls rank top-10 nationally in eight other categories, including all three slash lines (.343/.448/.568), doubles per game (2.71), home runs per game (1.51), HBPs (108), fielding percentage (.975) and double plays per game (0.98).
Luke Weddell has established himself as the nation's best sacrifice bunt artist, leading Division III in sac bunts per game (0.43) and ranking second in total sac bunts (15).
Scott Cameron gets hit by the pitch more often than almost anyone in the nation, ranking second in Division III in total HBPs (25) and HBPs per game (0.61).
Jimmy Adkins owns the fourth-best strikeout-to-walk ratio (10.86) and has allowed the fifth-fewest walks per nine innings (0.80). He also slots inside the top 150 in ERA (3.19).
Jacob Ference and Danny Sheeler are tied for 38th in the nation with 13 home runs apiece.
Ference averages a home run every 9.23 at-bats, with his 0.38 homers per game slotting 13th nationally. He also ranks 26th in slugging percentage (.783)
Sheeler ranks 35th in slugging percentage (.767) while owning the nation's 144th-best batting average (.400).
Cameron Hyder maintains his reputation as one of the toughest batters to strike out in Division III. He fans once every 25.0 at-bats, good for 15th in the nation, after finishing the 2022 season ranking second in Division III (43.2).

Scouting Report

East Texas Baptist University

#19 East Texas Baptist Tigers

Location: Marshall, Texas
2023 Record: 40-13 (24-3, American Southwest Conference)
NCAA Championships History: First appearance
Qualified: American Southwest Tournament Champions (first in program history)
NCAA Regional (Marshall, Texas): Beat Cal Lutheran 16-6, beat Trinity (Texas) 9-4, lost to Trinity 8-6, beat Trinity 2-1
Super Regional (Marshall, Texas): Beat La Verne 9-1, lost to La Verne 9-8, beat La Verne 14-6
Outfielder Ben Lea is in the midst of an all-time great season for the Tigers, slashing .403/.502/.892 with a program-record 23 home runs, 13 doubles, 55 RBIs, 63 runs and a 1.394 OPS. The ASC Player of the Year and a D3baseball.com First-Team All-American, his 23 round-trippers rank second in the nation, as do his 157 total bases.
Brett Wagner (15) and Jase Jones (14) join Lea in the national top 30 in home runs. ETBU ranks second in Division III with 80 round-trippers, trailing only Johns Hopkins (110).
Wagner ranks third in Division III with 72 RBIs and seventh in total bases (141).
Right-hander Sayers Collins repeated as ASC Pitcher of the Year. He arrives in Cedar Rapids boasting an 11-2 record, 2.64 ERA, four complete games, 30 walks and 122 strikeouts over 92 innings. Collins was named a D3baseball.com Second-Team All-American and ranks third in the nation in punchouts.
Rounding out the Tiger rotation are right-handers Jagger Neely (3-1, 3.39), Cole Godkin (7-2, 4.42) and Peyton Miller (3-0, 4.22).

Meet The Field

2023 Record: 36-10 (15-3, Ohio Athletic Conference)
NCAA Championships History: Third appearance (first since 2022)
Qualified: At-Large
NCAA Regional (Granville, Ohio): Beat Spaulding 4-3, beat Denison 10-6, beat Denison 17-2
NCAA Super Regional (Montgomery, Ill.): Beat Aurora 6-5, beat Aurora 16-6
2023 Record: 45-7 (15-1, Commonwealth Coast Conference)
NCAA Championships History: First appearance
Qualified: CCC Tournament Champions
NCAA Regional (Bridgewater, Mass.): Lost to Bridgewater State 4-2, beat Middlebury 6-1, beat Bridgewater State 6-0, beat Johnson & Wales 10-4, beat Johnson & Wales 7-1
NCAA Super Regional (Beverly, Mass.): Beat Ithaca 12-10, beat Ithaca 7-3
2023 Record: 44-5 (17-1, Centennial Conference)
NCAA Championships History: Sixth appearance (first since 2021)
Qualified: Centennial Conference Tournament Champions
NCAA Regional (Baltimore, Md.): Beat Penn State Altoona 23-9, beat Randolph-Macon 10-3, beat St. John Fisher 8-2
NCAA Super Regional (Baltimore, Md.): Lost to Wheaton (Mass.) 4-2, beat Wheaton 9-5, beat Wheaton 12-2
2023 Record: 43-7 (19-3, Old Dominion Athletic Conference)
NCAA Championships History: First appearance
Qualified: ODAC Tournament Champions
NCAA Regional (Rocky Mount, N.C.): Beat Lebanon Valley 2-1 (10), beat North Carolina Wesleyan 16-9, lost to LVC 8-4, beat LVC 5-3
NCAA Super Regional (Lynchburg, Va.): Beat Shenandoah 9-6, beat Shenandoah 3-1
2023 Record: 39-13 (18-6, Middle Atlantic Conference Freedom)
NCAA Championships History: Second appearance (first since 2018)
Qualified: At-Large
NCAA Regional (Dallas, Pa.): Beat Washington & Jefferson 10-7, lost to Salve Regina 11-4, beat W&J 12-8, beat Salve Regina 12-9, beat Salve Regina 19-6
NCAA Super Regional (Marietta, Ohio): Beat Marietta 8-3, beat Marietta 6-2
2023 Record: 36-11 (18-6, Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference)
NCAA Championships History: Third appearance (first since 2016)
Qualified: WIAC Tournament Champions
NCAA Regional (La Crosse, Wisc.): Beat Bethany Lutheran 10-0, beat Bethel 10-5, lost to Bethel 4-3, beat Bethel 16-3
NCAA Super Regional (La Crosse, Wisc.): Beat UW-Stevens Point 10-7, lost to Stevens Point 24-20, beat Stevens Point 16-10

Salisbury Baseball, 2023 Super Regional Champions