2023 NCAA Division III Tournament Central

MARSHALL, Texas – East Texas Baptist baseball team prevailed in the final game of a three-game series to earn its first Super Regional win and keep its historic season going after a 14-6 victory over La Verne on Saturday (May 27). The Tigers (40-13) got on the board first and erupted for six runs in the second inning to get ahead early in the deciding contest. Carson Wilson had the big swing in the second inning with a grand slam. Five different Tigers drove in multiple runs and Jagger Neely tossed six strong innings, giving three straight quality starts in a championship elimination game.
 
ETBU will play June 2-8 in a double-elimination format at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa.
 
The Tigers baseball program has now captured their first NCAA Division III Championship Super Regional, Regional, and American Southwest Conference title. In their first national tournament, the Tigers posted a 5-2 record to this juncture, the highest winning percentage of all ASC programs. They are the first ASC program to capture a Super Regional title. ETBU is the third conference team to reach the NCAA Finals. UT Tyler (5-1) and Concordia Texas (0-2) are the previous qualifiers. UT Tyler won the NCAA Division III National Championship in 2018.
 
East Texas Baptist fell in the first game 9-8 to La Verne (32-18). The Tigers were the visitors and totaled four runs in the opening inning, with three coming on a double by Brett Wagner. The Leopards cut a 5-0 deficit to 5-3 with runs in the fourth. After two more runs in the fifth, a five-run sixth flipped the lead to make it 8-7 favoring La Verne. ETBU did not go quietly, but one run in the ninth was not enough to complete a series sweep.
 
East Texas Baptist Recap