OKLAHOMA, City — The bus rides are over, the final practice sessions complete. At 3:30 ET today No. 2 Campbellsville (33-19) takes on No. 3 Mayville State (46-10) in the second of three games scheduled in the Opening Round of the Oklahoma City Bracket of the NAIA Baseball Championship.
Double-elimination kicks off at noon ET today when No. 4 Friends University (31-20) and No. 5 College of Idaho (24-28) play. No. 1 Oklahoma City University (45-8) waits in the wings to take on the winner of Friends and Idaho.
Campbellsville (33-19) vs. Mayville State (46-10)
The Tigers, winners of three consecutive Mid-South Conference regular season titles, look to continue their 17 regional tournaments (including opening rounds). They have been in the Opening Round finals in six of the last eight seasons.
Leading CU this year is
Clay Valenzuela-Reece's .341 batting average. Including Valenzuela-Reece, six of the Tigers main nine position players are hitting above .300, while the other three are just a few percentage points under the .300 mark. The power bats in the lineup come from
Romello Carbuccia (22 RBI) and
Brett Hamilton (38 RBI) who have launched six homers apiece, and have driven in a combined 60 runs.
The pitching staff was solid the last month of the regular season, but did hit a speed bump in the MSC Tournament when the staff issued 31 walks in their four tourney games.
First-Team All-MSC performer
Nick Przybylek has an 8-3 record and 3.38 ERA.
Indalecio Romo, a second-team performer, has come off Tommy John surgery and shined on the hill with a 4-2 record and 2.45 ERA. CU also has
DJ Wilson,
Jared Welander,
Malik Evans and
Kirby Broadbent who has seen significant action.
No. 22 Mayville is coming off a 5-3 win over Jamestown in the North Star Athletic Association Conference to punch its ticket to the opening round.
The Comets have two starters batting .400 or better — Nathan Walsh (.402) and Brady Nygaard (.400) — in an order that also sports four .319 or better performers.
Jacob Torgerson (7-1), Zach Mahoney (7-3), Conner Dinaro (6-1) and Kody Rock (9-3) anchor a 12-man pitching staff.
In addition to coverage of the NAIA Baseball Opening Round, CU Sports Information Assistant, and Tiger travel companion, Richard RoBards, will keep fans updated with periodic behind-the-scenes features on www.campbellsvilletigers.com and photo galleries on Facebook at Campbellsville Tigers. You can also follow the Tiger Baseball on Twitter at @CTigersBaseball and @CvilleTigers.
