Something’s Gotta Give Friday In Grand Chute

May 20, 2008 • Grand Chute, Wis.

When the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship gets under way Friday (May 23) at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Trinity College (Conn.) puts its 41-game winning streak up against the 38-game win streak of the State University of New York-Cortland.

Trinity College (41-0) broke the NCAA Division III record with its 41st straight win in the Harwich (Mass.) Regional title game. The Bantams face State University of New York-Cortland (42-3), which won the Auburn (N.Y.) Regional and hasn’t lost since March 12, in the final game Friday at 7:40 p.m.

State University of New York-Cortland returns to Grand Chute for the second straight year and the fifth time since 2000, and Trinity College is making its first trip to the finals since 2005.

The finals open with a rematch between the defending national champions, Kean University (N.J.) and Chapman University (Calif.) at 10 a.m.

Kean University (39-9), which won the title in 2007 in its first appearance in the finals, is looking to be the first team to repeat as champions since Rowan University (N.J.) in 1978 and 1979. The Cougars extended their winning streak to 12 games when they won the Newark (N.J.) Regional.

Chapman University (39-3), the nation’s top-ranked team by D3baseball.com, beat Kean University, 19-2 and 1-0, back in March and has played in the finals in seven of the last nine years. The Panthers have an 11-game win streak after taking the Abilene (Texas) Regional.

A pair of newcomers to the Grand Chute venue meet in the 1:15 p.m. game when Adrian College (Mich.) takes on Johns Hopkins University (Md.).

Adrian College (34-11) won the Terre Haute (Ind.) Regional with three runs in the bottom of the ninth against Heidelberg College (Ohio) in the title game. The Bulldogs face the nation’s most prolific offense in Johns Hopkins University (38-6), which won the Danville (Va.) Regional. The Blue Jays’ .386 batting average and 11.5 runs per game lead the nation.

The host state keeps its streak alive of sending teams to the finals in its own backyard, as the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (39-8) takes on Linfield College (Ore.) at 4:30 p.m.

This marks the seventh consecutive year a Wisconsin team has reached the finals, and the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater is back for the first time since winning the title in 2005. The Warhawks rolled through the Oshkosh (Wis.) Regional by averaging 14 runs per game.

Linfield College (34-11) is making its first appearance in the finals after a thrilling victory in the Moline (Ill.) Regional. The Wildcats scored the winning run in a 4-3 victory over Webster University (Mo.) on an error in the bottom of the 10th inning.