NCAA Division III Championship Central
 
CEDAR RAPIDS, Iowa – East Texas Baptist scored the first seven runs and its strong pitching withstood a 45-minute rain delay as it won its first NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament game over No. 2 Salisbury on Friday (June 2). Salisbury (35-7) was 2022 NCAA Division III National Runner-up and 2021 National Champion.
 
East Texas Baptist will play No. 3 Lynchburg on Saturday (June 3) at 7:45 p.m. CT.
 
ETBU (41-13) got on the board first and then extended the lead with runs in the third, fourth, and fifth innings. Ben Lea, Brett Wagner, and Nicolas Chavez had a pair of RBI each and Jacob Evangelista was a catalyst with a 3-for-4 and the other RBI. Sayers Collins hurled seven innings and allowed two runs on three hits. He struck out 13, returning to the mound after the weather intermission. Robert Croft closed the remaining two innings.
 
East Texas Baptist is the second American Southwest Conference team to pick a win up in the NCAA Finals and improves all-time league record to 6-3. Collins picked up his 12th winning decision, which matches an ASC record with Concordia Texas Matthew Williams in 2019, who was 12-2. Full Recap