Texas Teams To Play For NCAA Crown

A first-time national champion will be crowned at the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.

The best-of-three game series starts Tuesday at 11 a.m. with the University of Texas at Tyler taking on Texas Lutheran University at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium. Two games will be played Tuesday, and a third game, if necessary, is set for Wednesday.

Both teams are making their first trip to the national championship series.

Texas-Tyler (38-18) earned its berth in the championship series with an 8-6 victory over Randolph Macon College (Va.) in an elimination game.

The Patriots broke open a close game with a six-run fifth inning and then held off a challenge from Randolph-Macon (38-9-1). A string of two-out hits proved to be critical as Texas-Tyler scored all six runs in the sixth after two were out and the bases were empty.

Texas-Tyler led 8-4 before the Yellowjackets scored twice in the eighth. Alexander Masotto came on in relief and allowed just one hit while striking out four over the final two innings to nail down the victory.

Henry Sanchez went 3-for-4 and scored two runs for Texas-Tyler, and Alex Bishop and Tanner Roach both collected two hits with Bishop driving in three runs. Chris Stodolka tossed 3.1 innings of relief to pick up the victory.

Ryan Duphorn went 3-for-4 and drove in three runs to lead the Randolph-Macon attack, and Cullen Moore allowed five runs over 4.2 innings and took the loss.

Tyler Cauley's solo homer in the bottom of the eighth proved to be the difference as Texas Lutheran (42-10) earned its spot in the championship series with a 5-4 victory over Concordia University Chicago (40-15).

The game was tied 4-4 when Cauley blasted a 3-2 pitch over the left field fence to put the Bulldogs ahead for good. Dylan Murrell worked around a lead-off single in the top of the ninth to secure the victory and his sixth save of the season.

Drew Waller tossed one inning of scoreless relief to pick up his second win of the tournament.

Concordia Chicago bolted to a 3-0 lead through four innings before Cougars starter Mike Formella ran into trouble in the fifth. After Eric Rabinowitz delivered a run-scoring double, Riley Schaefer followed with a two-run single to tie the game at 3-3.

Texas Lutheran took the lead with a run in the bottom of the sixth before the Cougars tied it in the top of the seventh to set up Cauley's game-winning homer.

Schaefer, Ben Marvin and Thomas Varner all went 2-for-4 to pace Texas Lutheran, which saw all nine starters pick up a hit.

Five Concordia players -- Jose Mercado, Bryan VanDuser, Joe Silva, Brady Roberts and Keegan Tyrell -- all had two hits. Cody Caballero pitched 1.2 innings of relief and took the loss.

2018 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship • Host Website

Photo courtesy of Steve Frommell, D3Photopgraphy.com