Johns Hopkins To Face Trinity For National Title

Fans in attendance at Monday’s (May 26) NCAA Division III Championship were treated to a wealth of offense at Time Warner Cable Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Grand Chute, Wis., as three teams battled for the right to face Trinity College (Conn.) for Tuesday’s (May 27) national championship.

A combined margin of three runs decided a pair of turbulent Memorial Day contests that featured a total of 47 runs scored and 69 hits. Johns Hopkins emerged with a 12-11 victory over the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater in the ninth inning.

In the first game, UW-Whitewater survived a late rally by Adrian College (Mich.) and earned a 13-11 victory over the Bulldogs thanks in part to home runs by Jeff Donovan and Kevin Zalnis, who batted in seven of the Warhawks’ 13 runs.

Adrian College (36-13) erased a 10-2 deficit by rattling off seven runs in the top of the sixth inning versus UW-Whitewater. But it was the Warhawks that advanced to face Johns Hopkins University (Md.) later in the day, while Adrian College was eliminated from its first finals appearance.

UW-Whitewater’s bats didn’t slow down in the matchup against the Blue Jays. However, it was the nation’s top-ranked offense that outslugged the Warhawks (42-10).

With the score knotted at 11-11, Jonas Fester’s bases loaded single in the bottom of the ninth brought home Chris Huisman for the winning run, as Johns Hopkins University survived five lead changes.

Trinity College (44-0) will put its NCAA Division III-record 44-game winning streak on the line Tuesday against Johns Hopkins University (41-7). It’s a rematch of Sunday’s (May 25) nightcap which the Bantams won, 8-5.