2014 NCAA Division III McMinnville, Ore., Baseball Regional Website

BLOOMINGTON, Ill. - As the regional's No. 5 seed, the Illinois Wesleyan baseball team is playing in the NCAA Division III Regional at McMinnville, Ore., hosted by Linfield College at Roy Helser Field/Jim Wright Stadium.

The Titans (24-18) open against regional No. 2-seed Cal Lutheran (34-8) at 3:30 p.m. (Pacific) on Wednesday, May 14.

The opening game of the regional will pit the host school and regional No. 1-seed, Linfield (33-7 and the defending national champion), vs. No. 6 seed LeTourneau (32-13) at 12 p.m., with the IWU game next followed by No. 3 seed Trinity (Texas) (33-8) vs. No. 4 seed Wisconsin-Stevens Point (29-11) at 7 p.m.

On Thursday (May 15) at 12 p.m., the loser of Game 1 will meet the loser of Game 2 in an elimination game. At 3:30 p.m., the winner of Game 1 plays the loser of Game 3, and at 7 p.m. the winner of  Game 2 plays the wiinner Game 3.

Friday's schedule will be determined by the number of teams remaining with the championship schedule for Saturday.

This is Illinois Wesleyan's fifth straight, 12th overall, and ninth appearance in the last 11 years in the national tournament. The Division III national champions in 2010, Illinois Wesleyan has a record of 24-22 in NCAA tournament play and this year's seniors would follow last year's as the second class ever at IWU to have made the NCAA tournament in all of their college seasons.

The Titans' first opponent, Cal Lutheran, enters the NCAA Regional after winning the Southern California Intercollegiate Athletic Conference championship.  The Kingsmen are currently ranked 11th in the D3Baseball.com Top 25 rankings.  They are batting .343 as a team, and are led by senior pitcher/outfielder Jake Peterson who is hitting .444.  Peterson is also the ace of the pitching staff, boasting an 8-2 record with a 3.95 ERA.  Junior infielder Collin Crowl leads the team with 45 runs batted in.  The Kingsmen have no worries going to the bullpen late in games as senior closer Aaron Roth has saved 11 games this year. 

Defending national champion and regional host Linfield come into the tournament as Northwest Conference champions.  The Wildcats are currently ranked third in the D3Baseball.com Top 25 rankings, and were previously ranked No. 1 for nine weeks.  They are led in hitting by senior first baseman Clayton Truex who is hitting .355.  Truex also has a team high 41 RBIs.  The real strength of this team is its pitching staff.  As a staff, Wildcat pitchers have a 2.16 ERA.  Linfield's first three starters all have a sub 2.00 ERA.  Their ace is junior Chris Haddeland who has a 10-1 record with a 1.08 ERA. 

The Trinity (Texas) Tigers won a second consecutive Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship to earn an automatic bid into the NCAA tournament.  Senior outfielder Pat Hirschberg leads the team in hits (54), RBIs (41), and home runs (7) and is second on the team in batting average with .348.  Sophomore infielder Connor Moore is third on the team with 50 hits, but leads the team with 28 stolen bases.  The Tiger pitching staff is led by junior right-hander Zack Speer.  Speer posts an 8-1 record with a 1.79 ERA.  Trinity is currently ranked tenth in the D3Baseball.com Top 25 rankings.

Wisconsin-Stevens Point, currently ranked 12th in the D3Baseball.com Top 25 rankings, earned an at-large bid to the NCAA tournament.  The Pointers are hitting .314 as a team and are led by sophomore Brandon Kranz who is hitting .414 on the year.  Junior infielder Kyle McHugh leads the team with 57 RBIs and 60 hits, and is tied for the lead in home runs with nine.  On the mound, junior Luke Watson is the team's best pitcher.  Watson has a 7-1 record with a 2.03 ERA.   Junior Nick Prebelski has made 11 appearances out of the bullpen and leads the team with a 0.93 ERA.  

The LeTourneau YellowJackets are making their first ever NCAA tournament appearance after winning the American Southwest Conference championship.  Offensively, they are led in hitting by first basemen Garret Methvin who is hitting .392 with a team high four home runs and 33 RBIs.  The YellowJacket pitching staff is led by the trio of senior Curt Copeland, junior Cody Whitley, and junior Justin Jenkins.  Whitley leads the team with a 1.85 ERA and Jenkins has a team-high eight wins, while Copeland leads the team with 53 strikeouts.