#6 Tiger Baseball heads to the ultimate stage as they fly to Eastlake, Ohio to compete in the 2025 DIII College World Series. They are one of eight teams in Eastlake with the same end goal: win the national championship.
 
The Tigers (41-8, 27-3 SCAC) punched their ticket into the College World Series after winning the San Antonio Super Regional they hosted against McMurry. After winning game one in comeback fashion 5-4, the Tigers mashed their way to victory 10-4 in a 15 hit performance. It's the second time in the past four years that Trinity has made a College World Series appearance.
 
Trajan Lee (Dallas, Texas / John Paul II) found his groove in game one, pitching 4.1 innings in relief with four strikeouts and collecting the Win. Nicholas Lazzara (Carrollton, Texas / Jesuit College Prep) came in clutch for the Tigers in the bottom of the seventh of game one, hitting a two RBI single to put the Tigers ahead. Kai Tinker (Simi Valley, Calif. / Grace Brethren), after going 0-4 in game one, came back with a vengeance in game two by hitting 4-5 with two homers and four RBI. Michael Lustina (Austin, Texas / Westlake) put the dagger into the heart of the War Hawks with a three run bomb after coming in as a defensive substitution. 
 
Preview - Final Destination
 
Trinity flies into Eastlake, Ohio as the 6-seed in the College World Series hosted by the North Coast Athletic Conference. The Tigers drew 3-seeded Wisconsin Whitewater as their first opponent, with first pitch scheduled for Friday, May 30th at 8:00 EDT.
 
The College World Series field is as follows:
 
1. Johns Hopkins
2. Denison
3. Wisconsin Whitewater
4. Endicott
5. Kean
6. Trinity
7. Rowan
8. Messiah
 
On The #1 Johns Hopkins University Blue Jays: 
 
Johns Hopkins is having another dominant season and they come into the College World Series with a 44-3 (17-1 Centennial) record. There's no place like home for the Blue Jays, as they went undefeated at Babb Field this season. The Blue Jays are also battle tested, going 15-2 against teams in the tournament field of 64 this season. They entered the NCAA tournament as the number one overall seed since they had the nation's best NPI score.
 
They were called upon to host a regional, and they treated their home crowds to some dominant performances. In their first game against Farmingdale St., the Blue Jays hit six bombs, which included two from senior third baseman Shawn Steuerer, to rout the Rams 19-7. Junior designated hitter Lukas Geer was the main producer on offense in Johns Hopkins's second game against Rutgers-Camden, hitting 3-4 with three RBI. It was graduate student second baseman Jimmy Stevens' time to shine in the regional championship against Rensselaer. He hit two home runs to guarantee Johns Hopkins a spot in the Super Regionals.
 
The Blue Jays hosted Case Western Reserve in the Super Regional round, sweeping the Spartans in just two games. Johns Hopkins was down 4-3 heading into the bottom of the fourth in game one but got a clutch hit from junior right fielder Alex Shane to tie it up at four a piece. Junior left fielder Jacob Harris broke the tie in the bottom of the seventh with a two RBI double, which proved to be too much for the Spartans to overcome. It was a combined effort from Johns Hopkins in game two to win the game very early on. It was 9-3 by the end of the third inning, and Case Western Reserve could never make up that deficit.
 
Senior first baseman Dillon Souvignier has hit .423 this season with 16 home runs and 62 RBI to be one of the team leaders on offense. Sophomore pitcher Drew Grumbles has an undefeated 8-0 record and 1.75 ERA and has been the undisputed Ace of the team. The Blue Jays are led by longtime head coach Bob Babb, who is seeking his first national championship with the team in his 46 year career. Coach Babb has announced his retirement after the end of this season, so the team is bent on sending their legendary head coach out on top in his final season.
 
Trinity has only played one game against Johns Hopkins which was a 2-11 loss back in 2021 in the NCAA tournament Regional round.
 
On The #2 Denison University Big Red:
 
Denison has finally broken through to their first ever College World Series after years of sustained success. The Big Red enter the final site with a record of 40-5 (14-1 NCAC) and are an impressive 12-1 against the tournament's field of 64. They enter the College World Series and are the national tournament's overall 2-seed since they ended the season with the nation's second best NPI score.
 
They got the call to host the regional round of the tournament and made a good first impression by scoring five runs in the bottom of the fifth en route to an 8-2 victory over their first game opponent Manchester. Junior first baseman Max Fishbein couldn't be stopped in their first game, recording two RBI while only being a home run away from the cycle. Denison set the tone in their second regional game against Keystone when senior right fielder Jake Blozy crushed a two run bomb to spark an onslaught of offense from the Big Red to claim a 10-4 win. Being firmly in the driver's seat of their regional, they blasted Keystone 13-2 in their rematch in the regional championship to advance to the super regionals.
 
Denison hosted Belhaven in the Super Regional round and stomped the Blazers twice to punch their ticket into the College World Series. The first game saw Blozy have one of the best games in his career, as he hit 5-5 with a triple and seven RBI to help the Big Red win dominantly 17-3. Game two somehow saw an even more impressive performance than game one from the Big Red. The catalyst for this performance was junior center fielder Erik Sundgren, who must have bought a three for one special on home runs since he belted three dingers and collected six RBI to highlight the offensive output from the Big Red as they eliminated Belhaven 17-1.
 
This season for the Big Red has seen many standouts on offense, including sophomore catcher Jack Lutte who is batting .416 with 18 doubles and 37 RBI. The pitching staff has been nothing but impressive, holding a team ERA of 2.77 thanks to the efforts, in part, of senior starting pitcher Nick Falter who has an ERA of 2.30 with 104 strikeouts and a perfect 12-0 record. Sophomore starting pitcher Peter Lemke has also been a solid arm for the Big Red with his impressive 1.92 ERA. The team is headed by Mike Deegan, who is in his 13th season with the program.
 
Trinity has also only played one game against Denison which was a 13-5 win in Seguin, Texas back in the 2016 regular season.
 
On The #3 University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks:
 
Wisconsin-Whitewater is back with a vengeance after finishing runners-up in the College World Series last season. The Warhawks enter this year's College World Series with an impressive 44-6 (24-4 WIAC) record and are 14-3 against teams in the tournament field of 64. They have been designated as the overall 3-seed in the entire tournament due to them having the nation's third best NPI score.
 
Unlike the other top seeds in the tournament, Whitewater had to travel to Adrian, Michigan for their regional round. There they played the hosts of the regional, Adrian, in their first game and were tested by the Bulldogs. A tie game heading into the seventh, the Warhawks rallied in the bottom of the seventh, which was sparked by junior second baseman Andy Thies leading off the inning with a solo shot. That led to a four run inning for the Warhawks which was enough to hold off a late rally by the Bulldogs to win 8-6.
 
Their second game in the Adrian Regional was against WashU, and although they took an early 3-0 lead, the Bears of WashU rallied back to send the game into extra innings. Sophomore center fielder Dominik McVay stepped up to the dish and delivered a walk-off double in the bottom of the eleventh to put the Warhawks into the Regional championship game with a 4-3 victory. This set up a rematch against Adrian in the Regional championship game, and this time sophomore pitcher Ben Lee threw a gem of a game, going 7 innings where he allowed only one unearned run. This allowed the Warhawk offense to score four runs to seal the 4-1 win to advance to the Super Regional round.
 
In the Super Regional round they found themselves going toe to toe against fellow WIAC rival Wisconsin-Oshkosh. Junior starting pitcher Cade Hansen kept a stranglehold on the Oshkosh offense, pitching a complete game with seven strikeouts and only allowing one run to come across. Whitewater's offense did not need to be asked twice if they wanted to score two touchdowns against Oshkosh, and came away with a 14-1 win over the Titans. Although Oshkosh got their revenge in game two, game three was all Warhawks with Andy Thies, Dominik McVay, and senior first baseman Eli Frank combining for four home runs as Whitewater punched their ticket to the College World Series with a 10-0 shutout over Oshkosh.
 
Whitewater has been known for their firepower on the offense thanks to players like senior designated hitter Adam Cootway slashing .398 with 17 doubles, 18 home runs, and 62 RBI. Pitching has been excellent for Whitewater as well, and junior pitcher Logan Eisenbarth has been one of the best, holding an ERA of 2.47 with 52 strikeouts over 51 innings pitched. The program is led by their longtime skipper John Vodenlich, who is in his 24th season with the Warhawks.
 
Trinity and Whitewater have become familiar with each other, and have played two four game series against each other in the past four years. This has ended with both sides being 4-4 against one another since both series were 2-2 splits.
 
On The #4 Endicott College Gulls:
 
Endicott returns to the College World Series for the third year in a row for another attempt to grab their program's first baseball national championship. The Gulls have been dominant this season, entering the College World Series with a 43-4 (16-0 CNE) record and are 9-1 against teams in the tournament field of 64. They are the 4-seed in the College World Series and overall tournament since they finished the season with the nation's fourth best NPI score.
 
Similar to Whitewater, Endicott had to travel for the Regional round, busing over to the Bridgewater regional. They were met by great resistance from the hosts of the regional, Bridgewater St., in their first game, but sophomore starting pitcher Charlie Hale held down the Bears to just two runs over his seven innings of work while also striking out seven batters. His work allowed the Gulls to scratch across five runs to take the W 5-2.
 
Their next opponent was Concordia (TX), and sophomore first baseman Cade Bernardo put the game out of the Tornados' reach with a three run homer in the bottom of the third inning to put the Gulls up 6-0. That, combined with junior pitcher Evan Scully's complete game shutout, sealed a dominant 11-0 win. Their rematch with Concordia (TX) in the Regional championship was not as dominant of a win, but after senior third baseman Robbie Wladkowski hit a two RBI single to put the Gulls up 4-2 in the bottom of the third Endicott's pitching staff only surrendered two hits the rest of the game to win the Bridgewater Regional 7-3.
 
The Super Regional round had Endicott hosting Claremont-Mudd-Scripps, who came in as the nation's hottest offense. In game one Endicott got another gem out of Charlie Hale, who threw a complete game and struck out eight batters while only allowing a single run in the ninth inning. Graduate student catcher and captain John Mulready tallied 5 RBI in the game to contribute to the Gull's 15-1 game one win.
 
Although game two was closer due to Evan Scully needing to exit the game due to injury, the Gull's offense picked up the slack. John Mulready, Cade Bernardo, and Robbie Wladkowski all hit home runs to account for all the scoring that Endicott did in game two. Bernardo's grand slam in the top of the seventh was the most impactful out of the trio, and would ultimately be the hit that punched Endicott's ticket to the College World Series.
 
Some other standouts on offense for Endicott this year include senior right fielder Joey Frammartino, who has put together an impressive season with a .376 batting average and 56 RBI. Although Charlie Hale and Evan Scully get most of the attention on the Gull's pitching staff, senior pitcher John Connolly has also been just as good with his 2.68 ERA and perfect 6-0 record. Bryan Haley is the head coach for Endicott in his 18th season with the program and has led the Gulls to each one of their College World Series appearances.
 
Trinity holds a 5-1 record against Endicott all time and swept them in the last series they played against each other in 2020.
 
On The #9 Kean University Cougars:
 
Kean is making their first appearance in the College World Series since 2013. The Cougars are entering this weekend with a 40-9 (17-1 NJAC) record and have played plenty of games against teams in the tournament's field of 64, which they have gone 16-4 against. They are the 5-seed in the College World Series and are the eighth overall seed in the entire tournament since they finished with the nation's eighth best NPI score.
 
The Cougars were hosts in the Regional round and started their playoff journey with a close 4-2 win over Husson. Freshman pitcher Lucas White kept Husson in check, tossing seven solid innings of work while only allowing two runs. Kean was able to score late to win the low scoring pitchers' duel. The Cougar's offense exploded for 13 runs against their next opponent, Middlebury, where they scored five in the bottom of the first and left the Panthers in the dust. Kean's offense was helped out by senior third baseman Brett Hilsheimer going 3-5 with 3 RBI to push the Cougars past Middlebury 13-6.
 
SUNY Cortland challenged Kean in the Regional championship game, keeping the score close in another pitcher's duel. Sophomore catcher John Chiusano helped three runners come across the plate to put Kean up 3-0 early. The Red Dragons roared back and hit a couple of bombs to make things interesting. Still, senior center fielder Kyle Adorno came in clutch with an RBI single in the top of the eighth and contributed to a game-ending double play to finish off Cortland 4-3 and put Kean in the Super Regional round.
 
Another hot pitching staff entered Kean's home field in the Super Regional round, as Salve Regina entered Union, New Jersey. The Cougars found themselves down 2-3 in the bottom of the ninth until Freshman pinch runner Dylan Falk scored in a little league style play to tie up the game. The game would not be in extra innings for long, as sophomore first baseman Dan Reistle hit a walkoff single down the right field line to win game one of the Super Regional 4-3 over Salve Regina.
 
Salve struck back and won game two, but Kean would ultimately come out on top in the rubber match game three 5-2 to send themselves back to the College World Series. Junior pitcher Christian Pareja after surrendering two runs in the first inning collected himself and proceeded to shut out Salve for the next seven innings. Thanks to a strong first inning from the Kean offense where they put up three runs, the Cougars never lost the lead and punched their ticket to the final site for the first time in over a decade.
 
Other players of note include senior catcher CJ Tomalavage, who bats .359 with 12 doubles, 12 home runs, and 43 RBI. A pair of Jason's are key to the Cougar's pitching staff, including senior starting pitcher Jason Gilman and sophomore reliever Jason Basilicata. Gilman has thrown over 100 innings this season and has accrued an ERA of 2.09 with 136 strikeouts. Basilicata has been the go to closer for the Cougars, making 20 appearances where he has gotten 9 saves all while maintaining an ERA of 1.96 with 46 strikeouts. Neil Ioviero is the longtime skipper for Kean and is in his 28th season with the program.
 
Trinity has never played Kean before.
 
On The #15 Rowan University Profs:
 
Rowan comes into the College World Series as one of the hottest teams in the nation and is making their fourth final site appearance in program history. The Profs hold a 36-10 (14-4 NJAC) record coming into this weekend and are 13-6 against teams in the tournament's field of 64 this season. They are the 7-seed in the College World Series and are the 12th overall seed in the NCAA tournament because they ended the season with the nation's 12th best NPI score.
 
Rowan had to travel to Alliance, Ohio for the Regional round and they opened the tournament against Grove City. Graduate student starting pitcher Mike Shannon silenced Grove City's offense with an eight inning, nine strikeout game to keep Grove City to just one unearned run. The Profs' offense put up nine runs to pick up the W 9-1. Catholic would be Rowan's next opponent, but stood no chance against the Profs' offensive attack. Senior catcher Karson Harcourt and senior center fielder Phil Sedalis recorded five RBI each to contribute to a 26-9 walloping of Catholic. It was much the same in the Regional championship against Catholic, as Phil Sedalis had seven RBI to help Rowan win 20-4 over Catholic again and advance to the Super Regional round.
 
Rowan then had to travel to Lynchburg, Virginia for the Super Regional round where they took on Lynchburg. Game one saw these two teams in a close game going into the ninth inning, but sophomore second baseman Joey Bogart crushed the hopes of Lynchburg with a two RBI double in the top of the ninth to cement a 7-4 win for the Profs. Rowan put away Lynchburg for good in game two thanks to strong pitching performances from senior pitchers Zach Coluccio and Steven Maiers stymying the Hornets to just two runs. Rowan won the game 6-2 and became the first team to win a Super Regional that did not host to punch their ticket into Eastlake.
 
Jason Morgan, the Profs' senior right fielder, is one of four players that have over 50 RBI this season with 59 thanks to his .366 batting average. Rowan is a bit thin as a pitching staff, mainly relying on the aforementioned Zach Coluccio, Steven Maiers, and Mike Shannon to keep opposing offenses down. That trio were the pitchers that Rowan used in the Super Regional. Rowan is led by head coach Mike Dickson, who has found success in his 11 years with the program.
 
Trinity has never played Rowan before.
 
On The Messiah University Falcons:
 
Messiah is the Cinderella story of the NCAA tournament this season, making their first College World Series appearance in program history. The Falcons are 36-14 (18-3 MAC Commonwealth) on the season and are 7-5 against the tournament's field of 64 this season. They are the 8-seed in the College World Series and are the only team in the final eight that was not a 1-seed in a regional.
 
Messiah was sent to Ashland, Virginia for the Regional round and they made themselves known by blasting the hosts, Randolph-Macon, 15-0 in their opening game. Senior second baseman Jarrett Gordon collected six RBI and freshman starting pitcher Zachary Harris threw 7.2 shutout innings where he collected nine strikeouts. Their second opponent Methodist seemingly had the Falcons on the ropes going into the bottom of the eighth, but Messiah took the lead thanks to senior first baseman Evan Wagaman hitting a two run bomb. Messiah tacked on two more runs to make it a 6-3 Falcons win. The Regional championship game against Methodist was a more dominant win for Messiah since they never lost the lead after junior center fielder Isaiah Parido hit a grand slam to put the Falcons on top. They ended up winning 9-2 and advancing to the Super Regional round despite being out-hit by Methodist.
 
The Falcons then traveled to Salisbury, Maryland to take on national powerhouse Salisbury in the Super Regional. Zachary Harris once again put up a quality start by pitching 6.2 innings and only allowing one run. A call to the bullpen brought out senior pitcher Noah Barrall, who closed the door on Salisbury with two shutout innings which led to Messiah winning 4-1 in game one. Salisbury hit a grand slam in the top of the fourth in game two, but back to back three run innings in the sixth and seventh gave Messiah the lead and ultimately the win 7-5 to shock the DIII baseball world.
 
Junior right fielder David Martinez is another key player in the Falcons batting order, swinging .307 with ten doubles and 21 RBI. Junior starting pitcher Christian Foltz is another pitcher who gets a lot of time on the mound for Messiah and has posted an ERA of 4.00 with 90 strikeouts over 69.2 innings. Phill Shallenberger is the head coach for the Falcons and is in his 4th season with the program.
 
Trinity has never played Messiah before.
 
The Road to the Top
 
Trinity must first win a regional style bracket against Denison, Wisconsin-Whitewater, and Rowan, and then must beat either Johns Hopkins, Endicott, Kean, or Messiah in a best of three series to win the national championship.