Baseball 5/29/2021 12:00:00 AM

Trevecca Baseball | Trojans Advance to NCAA D2 Midwest Region Championship Sunday

Box Score

ST. CHARLES, Mo. – No. 21 (NCBWA) Trevecca Nazarene University baseball (35-10) defeated sixth seed Northwood University (29-17), 9-4, to advance the championship of the 2021 NCAA Division II Midwest Region. The final is Sunday at 1:00 PM at Lindenwood University's Lou Brock Complex.

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CHAMPIONSHIP SUNDAY

The win for Trevecca, 3-0 at the region, eliminates Northwood from the tournament and advances Trevecca to Sunday's championship game at 1:00 PM. Trevecca's opponent is third seed Davenport University (31-15) who has one loss, to host Lindenwood. They defeated Quincy 22-13 on Saturday to reach the finals on Sunday.

A trip to the NCAA Division II College World Series in Cary, N.C., is the reward for the winner of the region, and both Trevecca and third seed Davenport University know what is at stake Sunday. The winner gets one of eight slots in the national bracket as a regional champion.

Interestingly, the two schools have only met three times and all three came this year at Jackson Field in Nashville. The Panthers took two of three in the series. Trevecca took the opener 4-2 but lost 12-0 and 13-12 in the next two.

HOW IT HAPPENED

Portions from greatmidwestsports.com

For the first time in its history, Trevecca is one (or two) win(s) away from a Midwest Regional title in the NCAA Division II Championship bracket. The Trojans improved to 3-0 in the double-elimination, six-team bracket after defeating future Great Midwest Athletic Conference member and sixth seed Northwood University at the Lou Brock Complex (Lindenwood University) on Saturday, 9-4.
It didn't come easy, the Trojans and Alex Clouthier found themselves on the wrong end of a bases-loaded, two-out situation in the bottom of the ninth inning. To make matters worse, the Trojan lefty Clouthier was staring down GLIAC Player of the Year Cole Brooks. Brooks sent a rocket opposite field to leftfield where Trojan John O'Dwyer made a stretched-out diving catch in the left-center gap for the game-saving catch.
Great Midwest Coach of the Year, Chase Sain, led the Trojans to a Great Midwest Conference regular-season title and added the tournament championship going 4-0 at PRASCO Park.
The Trojans have come from behind in all three games at the region. TNU rallied to beat fifth seed Quincy University on Thursday and came from behind to defeat fourth seed Lindenwood on Friday in the winner's bracket. Northwood followed the pattern taking a 4-1 lead.
In both the Great Midwest and Midwest region tournaments, the Trojans have been able to save their pitching arms by playing one game a day.
Alex Clouthier (4-1) owns the Trojans only complete games of the year. Clouthier pitched six strikeouts against the Timberwolves. Clouthier scattered 10 hits over the nine frames and yielded four runs to improve to 4-1.
The game-changing inning was the fourth when the Trojans, trialing 4-1, scored five runs to take the lead for good. Trey Vanderpool led off the inning with a single and Joseph McNamee followed with a single of his own. With one out, David Milam reached on a walk to load the bases. Andru Becker proved to be the catalyst in more ways than one. After the freshman fouled a pitch off his foot, he singled driving in a Vanderpool, and eventually scored himself. Braden Odom grounded out but drove in McNamee. Shawn Wallwork drew a walk to load the bases again setting the table for back-to-back singles from Ethan Harrison and Bryant Goolsby to give the Trojans a 6-4 lead. The Trojans batted around in the inning.

The battery of Clouthier and his receiver David Milam kept the Timberwolves guessing most of the night, but when Northwood put the ball in play the other seven Trojans on the field made strong plays to stem the tide. The defense turned in an inning-ending double play in the fifth and the game-ending diving catch by O'Dwyer in the ninth were highlights, but not the only defensive gems. Joseph McNamee made at least two crucial charging scoop and throws to first.

Ethan Harrison and Andru Becker each collected two of the Trojan's 11 hits. Harrison and John O'Dwyer each drove in two of the Trojan's nine runs. Trey Vanderpool and David Milam each scored two of the Trojans nine runs.

SERIES HISTORY

Trevecca leads the series with Northwood 3-2. All four previous games were played at Jackson Field on the Trevecca campus. The Timberwolves visited Nashville for a single game in 2018 and three games in 2020. This is the first neutral-site game.

CHAMPIONSHIP NOTES

With five teams remaining through Friday's games, an alternate version of the bracket activated for the final two days. Trevecca, regardless of its result on Saturday, is the only team guaranteed of advancing to Sunday.

The first team eliminated is No. 6 (NCBWA) and tournament top seed University of Illinois Springfield. The second team eliminated is the host and #4 seed Lindenwood.

Davenport University, receiving votes for the top 25, picked up their second win of the tournament Friday.

One or two more teams will be eliminated in the final two games on Saturday.

MIDWEST REGION SCHEDULE

*Note – GM 1 and GM 3 times swapped for host Lindenwood to play late game Thursday. Weather issues altered that plan. GM 1 – Lindenwood/Davenport – is Friday at 9:00 AM.

Live Stats | Live Video

THURSDAY – MAY 27

GM 3 – #6 Northwood (28-15) def #1 Illinois Springfield (37-7) 13-9

GM 2 – #2 Trevecca (33-10) def #5 Quincy (28-14) 8-3

FRIDAY – MAY 28

GM 1 – #4 Lindenwood (34-7) def #3 Davenport (29-15) 6-2

GM 4 – #5 Quincy (29-14) def #1 Illinois Springfield (37-8) 4-3 / UIS eliminated

GM 5 – #2 Trevecca (34-10) def #4 Lindenwood (34-8) – 7-4

GM 6 – #3 Davenport (30-15) def #6 Northwood (28-16) 16-1

SATURDAY – MAY 29

GM 7 – #6 Northwood (29-16) def #4 Lindenwood (34-8) 7-5 / LU eliminated

GM 8 – #3 Davenport (31-15) def #5 Quincy (29-15) 22-13 / QU eliminated

GM 9 – #2 Trevecca (35-10) vs #6 Northwood (29-17) 9-4 / NU eliminated

SUNDAY – MAY 30

GM 10 – 1:00 PM – #2 Trevecca (35-10) vs #3 Davenport (31-15)

GM 11 – 4:30 PM – if necessary

MIDWEST REGION NOTES

The Midwest Region is hosted by Lindenwood University of St. Charles, Mo.

Regional play starts Thursday, May 27 and concludes on Sunday, May 30.

The games are to be played at Lou Brock Sports Complex

The six-team double-elimination region field is made up of three automatic qualifiers (AQ) and three at-large selections.

The three automatic qualifiers are the conference tournament champions from the Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (GLIAC), Great Lakes Valley Conference (GLVC), and the Great Midwest Athletic Conference (G-MAC).

The final three bids go to at large selections evaluated by the regional advisory committee then selected by the NCAA Division II Softball Committee based on distinct criteria.

The NCAA Division II Championship field includes 48 teams spread across eight double-elimination six-team regional sites. The eight regional winners advance to the finals where the national champion is determined in a best-of-three final series. The championship is June 5-12, 2021 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, NC.

SEASON ESSENTIALS

G-MAC Standings | G-MAC Stats | G-MAC Scores | 2021 G-MAC Championships

FINAL MIDWEST REGION RANKINGS

1 – University of Illinois Springfield (37-6 / GLVC)

2 – Trevecca Nazarene University (32-10 / G-MAC)

3 – Northwood University (26-12 / GLIAC)

4 – Lindenwood University (33-7 / GLVC)

5 – Quincy University (28-13 / GLVC)

6 – Davenport University (26-14 / )

7 – Tiffin University (29-16 / G-MAC)

8 – Ohio Dominican University (28-11 / G-MAC)

The 2021 NCAA DII Baseball Championships take place from June 6-12, 2021 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C.