For the record, it’s hard to beat the lineup at this weekend’s NCAA Division III baseball championship in Appleton, Wis.

Every team in this year’s field has at least 30 wins and no more than 11 defeats. Add in the defending champion along with some lengthy winning streaks and the first undefeated team in the tournament’s history, and this year’s event May 23-27 at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium has the makings of something special. The 33rd annual event is being played in Appleton for the ninth consecutive year and is co-hosted by the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh and Lawrence University.

Three teams enter this year’s tournament with three losses or less, highlighted by Trinity College (Conn.), which brings a perfect 41-0 record into the tournament. The Bantams’ last defeat came to State University of New York-Cortland in last year’s regional and they’ll have a chance to avenge that loss in the first round against the Red Dragons, who are 42-3 and have won 38 straight games.

Chapman University is 39-3 overall and handed defending national champion Kean University two of its losses earlier this year in California. Kean is 39-9 overall and lost 19-2 and 1-0 to Chapman in March. The two teams also played in last year’s tournament and will meet for the sixth time in two seasons in Friday’s opening round.

The 2005 champion University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is in the field for the third time in five years and will play first-time entrant Linfield College. Johns Hopkins University makes its first appearance since 1989 and takes on newcomer Adrian College in the opening round.

Adrian College is the first team from the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association to appear in the finals and owns a 34-11 record. The Bulldogs scored three runs in the bottom of the ninth inning for a dramatic 8-7 win over Heidelberg College in the regional final. Senior Bobby Rickstad was the conference Player of the Year and earned first-team all-league honors for the fourth straight year. He is hitting .360 with seven home runs and is also 6-2 with a 3.70 ERA on the mound. Junior Alex Webster is 8-1 with a 3.58 ERA and freshman Brian Bilius owns a .375 batting average and was the Most Outstanding Player of the regional tournament.

Chapman University has won 11 straight games and 31 of its last 32 outings. The Panthers feature the top two pitchers in the country in ERA. Regional Most Outstanding Player Kurt Yacko has a national-best 14 saves with a 6-0 record and a 0.66 ERA, while his junior classmate Wayde Kitchens is 8-0 with a 0.69 ERA. The Panthers advanced to the finals with three one-run victories and a 12-inning affair in their four regional tournament games. Junior Tristan Phillips is hitting .400 and senior Mike Vass has 14 home runs and 50 runs batted in.

Johns Hopkins University qualified for the finals on the strength of the nation’s most prolific hitting attack and a 38-6 record. The Blue Jays are hitting a national-best .386 as a team and lead the country with 11.5 runs per game. The Centennial Conference champions have three of the nation’s top seven hitters individually. Sophomore Brian Youchak leads the team with a .500 average, nine home runs and 57 RBI’s. Senior Rob Pietroforte is hitting .483 and senior Todd Emr has a .476 average and team-high 64 RBI’s. Junior Chez Angeloni is the team’s top pitcher with a 7-0 record and 4.58 ERA.

Linfield College makes its first national tournament appearance since winning the 1971 NAIA national title. The Northwest Conference champion is 34-11 and qualified for the finals on pitching and defense. The Wildcats rank second in the country with a .972 fielding percentage and third with a 2.81 ERA. Senior Brian Clark leads the pitching staff with a 10-1 record and 2.60 ERA, while junior Stew Davis has a team-best .359 batting average with 27 RBI’s. Linfield is coached by former major league all-star Scott Brosius, who was the 1998 World Series Most Valuable Player with the New York Yankees.

Kean University aims to become the first team to repeat as national champion since New Jersey Athletic Conference rival Rowan University won back-to-back crowns in 1978-79, giving Division III baseball the longest streak without a repeat champion of any NCAA sport. The Cougars are 39-9 overall and have won 12 straight games. They also have 12 consecutive NCAA tournament victories over the past two seasons. Kean, which ranks second nationally with 134 stolen bases, is led by senior Derek Gianakas, who has 12 home runs and 50 RBI’s to earn conference Player of the Year honors. Junior Brandon Aich has made all 17 of his pitching appearances in relief and is 7-1 with four saves. Sophomore Joel Bartlinski is 8-2 with a 2.83 ERA.

State University of New York-Cortland has rarely been challenged during its current 38-game winning streak with just two one-run games. The Red Dragons, who are playing in their 16th straight NCAA tournament, have outstanding pitching depth with seven pitchers with at least four wins. Junior Nicolas Branco was the Most Outstanding Player of the regional tournament and owns a 5-1 record with a 1.31 ERA. Sophomore Matt Tone was the State University of New York Athletic Conference Pitcher of the Year with a 10-0 record and 2.49 ERA. Senior Joey Russo is hitting .408 with 35 RBI’s and senior Mike Zaccardo has a .399 average with 47 RBI’s. The Red Dragons are tied with Kean for second in the country with 134 stolen bases.

Trinity College has been one of the best stories of the season, becoming the first collegiate baseball team to conclude a regular season undefeated and clinching the longest win streak in Division III history with its regional title win over the University of Southern Maine. The Bantams won the New England Small College Athletic Conference and played just four games decided by one run. They lead the country with a 1.86 team ERA and are paced by senior Tim Kiely, who is 10-0 with a 1.37 ERA and has walked just one batter with 87 strikeouts in 79 innings pitched. Sophomore Kent Graham is hitting .419 with eight home runs and 55 RBI’s, while junior Sean Killeen is hitting .399 with seven home runs and 39 RBI’s.

University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is 39-8 overall and is hitting .342 as a team after scoring more than 20 runs in two of its four regional tournament wins. The school has already had a big year with a national title in football, runner-up finishes in volleyball and softball and a third place trophy in women’s basketball. UW-Whitewater won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference for the seventh time in nine years and features the league’s Pitcher of the Year in senior Adam Dominick, who is 10-2 with a 3.15 ERA. Senior Billy Johnson is hitting .424 with 48 RBI’s and junior Kevin Zalnis owns a .368 average with 16 home runs and 50 RBI’s.