The Division 3 (D3) NCAA Baseball World Series starts Thursday (Games kickoff Friday morning) in Eastlake at the Classic Auto Group Park. Eight teams are hoping that the next nine days yields a championship! Will the champs be the top seeded Denison Big Red from Granville? Or will East Texas Baptist shock the D3 world and hoist the trophy? So many stories so little time.
Who are the players for the D3 World Series?
Denison baseball, via Annie Kim from DSN
Here are the D3 teams and their tournament seeding :
Denison (#1) Ohio
Rowan (#2) New Jersey
Salisbury (#3) Maryland
Johns Hopskins (#4) Maryland
Baldwin-Wallace (#5) Ohio
Endicott (#6) Massachusetts
Adrian (#7) Michigan
East Texas Baptist (#8) Texas
How did they get here to battle for the World Series title?
Denison defeated Piedmont, 2-0, in their Super Regional best of three series.
Rowan dispatched with Randolph Macon, 2-0.
Salisbury closed out their Super Regional 2-0 over University of Chicago.
Johns Hopskins, the 2023 Runner up, won 2-1 over Claremont M-S.
Baldwin-Wallace sent Messiah home, 2-0.
Endicott struggled but finally defeated Salve Regina, 2-1.
Adrian sent Bethany Lutheran packing, 2-1.
East Texas Baptist punched Lynchburg’s ticket back home with a 2-1 series win.
Who has the statistical edge for this D3 World Series?
I ran much of the stats from the past year. I focused on these five areas: batting average (BA), ERA, home runs (HR), slugging percentage (S%) and WHIP (walks/hits per inning pitched). And of them all, WHIP is the one stat that all eight teams are in the top 50 in the country. Controlling the number of runners on base is probably the best statistic for a pitching staff.
But which team shines in all five areas? Denison. They are no lower than #14 in every category. Third in BA and ERA, 5th in S% and 7th in WHIP. Baldwin-Wallace is ranked no lower than 53rd in these five categories. Adrian is in the top 100 in all five areas. Endicott has the best pitching in the tourney. They are #1 in WHIP and fifth in ERA. Salisbury is the 2nd best pitching club. (#2 in ERA and #3 in WHIP)
Johns Hopkins is a slugging juggernaut. They are #1 in both HR and S%. East Texas and Rowan both are about equal in their hitting prowess. Rowan has the 3rd best BA while Texas sits 4th. In fact, Texas is just behind Hopkins win HRs (80 for the year or #4) and S% (.560, 7th in the country).
Games start today! Need tickets? Here’s where to get them digitally.
Need help with places to eat or things to do in the area? Thanks to the Clevelandsports.org site, they have you covered!
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