2006 NCAA®
Division III South Regional
Wednesday-Saturday, May 17th-20th
North Carolina Wesleyan's Bauer Field
Rocky Mount, NC
INFORMATION
Bauer Field
Rocky
Mount
Chamber of Commerce
Practice Times &
Coaches Meeting
THE BISHOPS
WELCOME THE FOLLOWING PARTICIPANTS:
Salisbury
Emory
Bridgewater
Rowan
Virginia Wesleyan
North Carolina
Wesleyan College is proud to host the 2006 NCAA D-III Baseball South
Regional!
May 20, 2006
Bishops to make first World Series appearance since '99
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WORLD SERIES WEBSITE!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WORLD SERIES PREVIEW!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE REGIONAL SLIDESHOW! (courtesy of the Rocky Mount Telegram)
Rocky Mount,
NC -
The Battling Bishop baseball squad of North Carolina
Wesleyan College is heading to the NCAA Division III World Series!
The Bishops, who knocked off Rowan University by a 4-2 score in extra
innings, will make their first appearance at the Series since their
National Championship win in 1999. Blake Rice threw his second
complete game of the tournament and Luke Williford blasted his first two
collegiate homeruns to spark Wesleyan to their first Regional
Championship in six years. Rice and Williford were named Co-Most
Valuable Players of the tournament.
The Profs, who forced a game two with a 2-0 win in the opener, found themselves down 1-0 in the bottom of the seventh after Williford connected on a solo shot in the fifth.
With the bases loaded and one out, Rowan skipper Juan Renero made a gutsy call and put on the squeeze with two strikes on batter Joe Fransechini. Fransechini executed the bunt perfectly to tie the game at 1-1, however, Rice then forced a 5-2-3 double play to end the inning and preserve the tie.
The Profs had a shot to put the game out of reach in the eighth, loading the bases with no outs. Rice again came through in the clutch with back-to-back strikeouts followed by a groundout to third that swung the momentum back in the favor of NC Wesleyan.
After a scoreless ninth, the game headed for extras. Not to be outdone by Rice's heroics, Williford blasted his second homerun of the game to give the Bishops a 2-1 advantage in the tenth. Chris Pecora followed with a double, and senior Rob Johnson, in his final at-bat at Bauer Field, connected on a two-run shot into the pine trees in left that proved to be the game-winner.
Rice allowed one run in the ninth and allowed the Profs to send the go-ahead run to the plate with runners at first and second. It was Rice's day, however, as the junior hurler again forced a groundout to third that secured the 4-2 final and began the celebration for the home crowd.
Rice (10-2) tossed his 11th complete game of the season after going ten innings, allowing two runs, striking out six, and walking none. Dempsey (1-3) took the loss for Rowan.
Pecora, Johnson, and Williford all had two hits for the Bishops. Bruce Reibis and Bobby Fox each had three hits to pace the Profs.
North Carolina Wesleyan will now travel to Appleton, Wisconsin for the NCAA Division III World Series. The eight-team tournament will begin on May 26th with the National Championship game slated for Tuesday, May 30th. The Bishops will be going for their third National Championship, having won the Series in 1989 and 1999.
Below is the South Regional All-Tournament Team...
Blake Rice, NC Wesleyan - Co-MVP
Luke Williford, NC Wesleyan - Co-MVP
Chris Pecora, NC Wesleyan
Tim Edmeads, Rowan
Ryan Kulik, Rowan
Bruce Reibis, Rowan
Dan Sellers, Virginia Wesleyan
Chris Rivera, Virginia Wesleyan
Greg Lemon, Salisbury
Alex Vitale, Salisbury
Rick Read, Bridgewater
CLICK HERE TO VISIT THE WORLD SERIES WEBSITE!
CLICK HERE TO READ THE WORLD SERIES PREVIEW!
CLICK HERE TO VIEW THE REGIONAL SLIDESHOW! (courtesy of the Rocky Mount Telegram)
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