CARY, N.C. - The Lenoir-Rhyne Baseball team will open up the NCAA DII Championships tomorrow with a battle against the #6 seed East Stroudsburg Warriors. This game will take place at 11:00 a.m. from the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The contest was moved up two and a half hours from it's original time due to possible rain later in the day.

There will be a tailgate in the parking lot beginning at 9:00 a.m. ET with donuts and coffee provided.

Lenoir-Rhyne's path to Cary
Lenoir-Rhyne opened the postseason by winning three consecutive games in Hickory to advance to the SAC Championship series against Catawba. In Asheboro, the Catawba Indians took down the Bears 10-3 and 10-4 to get the auto bid to the NCAA Tournament. Earning the #3 seed in the Southeast Regional, Lenoir-Rhyne would head to Belmont Abbey and take down North Georgia 4-2, Belmont Abbey 13-7, and North Georgia 11-3 to advance to the Super Regional for the first time in program history. Facing #1 seed Catawba, LR dropped game on 7-3 before winning 6-3 and 6-1 over the next two days to book their ticket to Cary. 

East Stroudsburg's path to Cary
The Warriors prove that getting hot at the right time continues to be a great formula for success in collegiate baseball. Despite dropping the final four games of their regular season to Millersville and falling in the opening round of the PSAC Tournament to Indiana (Pa.), East Stroudsburg earned the #3 seed in the Atlantic Regional and took full advantage. They went 5-0, starting out with regional wins over Fairmont State (11-2), West Chester (6-1), and Fairmont State (6-2). Hosting Super Regionals, ESU took down Seton Hill 4-1 and 7-3 (11 inn.) to earn their first ever DII Championship bid. 

By the numbers - rankings against fellow Championship teams

• Lenoir-Rhyne
  • Record - 48-13
  • Miles from Cary - 161
  • Runs Scored - 582 (1st)
  • Batting average - .346 (2nd)
  • Home Runs - 130 (1st)
  • ERA - 4.73 (7th)
  • WHIP - 1.44 (6th)
  • K/9 - 9.5 (1st)
• East Stroudsburg
  • Record - 40-14
  • Miles from Cary - 500
  • Runs Scored - 378 (8th)
  • Batting Average - .296 (8th)
  • Home Runs - 49 (5th)
  • ERA - 3.93 (3rd)
  • WHIP - 1.45 (8th)
  • K/9 - 7.6 (7th)

Team Notes
Lenoir-Rhyne, simply put, is one of the best offensive teams in the history of NCAA DII baseball. They rank nationally in the top-ten in hits, home runs, home runs per game, slugging percentage, runs scored, strikeouts per nine innings, doubles, and batting average. They are just one home run away from tying the DII all-time home runs record (131 by Quincy - 2022 and West Georgia - 1998), are seventh all-time in total bases and 18th in team slugging percentage. The trio of Mackenzie Wainwright, Cole Stanford, and Sal Carricato have been dominant, combining for 270 hits, 217 RBI's, 212 runs, and 68 home runs. Not to be out done, Owen Blackledge set the single season walks record with 55 on the year and all-time games played leader Cole Laskowski has 75 hits, 66 runs, and 41 walks. On the mound, starters Andrew Harlow, William Girardi, and Kellen Gradisar have been extremely consistent this season while Gavin Marley and Randan Rigdon have come up big out of the pen. Harlow is LR's single-season strikeout leader with 119 on the year while Marley has a 2.41 ERA and nine saves to his name in 33.2 innings pitched. 

East Strousburg comes to Cary with a 40-14 (19-9 PSAC) record and are riding a five-game winning streak. This team's calling card is depth, especially in their bullpen. When he's healthy, Caden Parker (10 saves, 0.77 ERA, 1.24 WHIP) is one of the best closers in DII. Jake Albert (4-1, 2.92 ERA) and Johansel Brito (1-1, 3.47 ERA) can come in and give the Warriors some big innings out of the pen if needed. They are led on offense by senior Dennis Pierce, who has a batting average of .369 with 63 RBI's, 62 hits, 51 runs, and 18 home runs. His grand slam in the 11th inning against Seton Hill sent ESU to Cary for the first time in school history. A man to watch out for on the base paths is Walker Zampella, who is 35-40 on stolen base attempts this season. 

Lenoir-Rhyne will take on East Stroudsburg tomorrow at 11:00 a.m. from the USA Baseball Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The winner of tomorrow's game will face the winner of Central Missouri/Northwood on Sunday at 6:00 p.m., while the loser of each game will play each other in an elimination game on Sunday a 1:30 p.m.