The first weekend of the DII baseball championship is in the books. There were long balls aplenty, Tampa's utterly dominant, record-setting performance and the first team to survive elimination... in the grandest of fashions.
馃弳&苍产蝉辫;Follow the tournament
馃搳&苍产蝉辫;The previous Power 10
馃敟&苍产蝉辫;Kings of the hill: Breaking down some of DII baseball's best pitchers
鈿撅笍&苍产蝉辫;DII baseball finals preview
馃弳&苍产蝉辫;Tampa looks to set the record for most DII baseball championships
Just seven teams remain, and by the time you read this, another flag may be gone. Let's look back at the first weekend, which was arguably the most exciting first three days in Cary's 15-year lore of hosting the championship finals.
Tampa sets Cary run record
The Spartans are here on business. They are looking to repeat as national champions for the third time in program history and win their 10th title 鈥 which would break the tie with Florida Southern for most ever in DII history. They rolled into their first game with a favorable matchup, facing No. 8 Felician in its first appearance ever in the DII baseball championship finals.
Other teams could have not been as focused 鈥 on paper, this looked like Tampa would win handily. But that's not a Joe Urso-coached team. Tampa came out and scored 20 runs, the most ever in the 15-year history of Cary as host and most in the finals since 1997. Every player in the starting lineup recorded at least one hit, and every player in the starting lineup scored at least one run. Six of the starting nine recorded at least one RBI, and four players hit home runs. Tampa faces Northwest Nazarene next and will once again look to show its dominance on the field.
A walk-off grand slam sees East Stroudsburg live another day
WALKOFF GRAND SLAM!! WIN!!
鈥 Wayne Cavadi (@WayneCavadi_D2)
East Stroudsburg and Northwood were both first timers to the DII baseball championship finals. The two also played in the first elimination game of the tournament. Northwood had the Warriors on the ropes, leading 6-5 in the ninth inning, when Jack Rothenhausler, the Warriors' career leader in just about everything, came to the plate with bases loaded. The at-bat ended with a no-doubter, deep to left field and the first walk-off grand slam in Cary history.
That was fun and the crowd was electric, but that's not the ultimate takeaway here. East Stroudsburg was in the elimination game after a Game 1 loss, but that loss put some fear into Lenoir-Rhyne. These Warriors were down 15-4 against the mighty Bears' offense and came back swinging, dropping seven runs in the eighth inning, nearly pulling off the stunning come-from-behind upset. This team has no quit, and showed it doesn't shy away from the moment once again on Sunday. If the Warriors can get the ball to the bullpen, they have a chance 鈥 ESU entered Cary with a combined 1.08 ERA from its 'pen. They pitched 4.1 innings of shutout ball on Sunday to give the Warriors their storybook chance to move on in the bracket.
The Bears Bomb Squad likely just hit another home run
The Lenoir-Rhyne Bears came into Cary needing just two home runs to break the DII baseball single-season record. They had 130, one shy of West Georgia (1998) and Quincy (2023), and by the fifth inning of the first game in Cary, we had DII baseball history when Eli Willen left the yard for home run 132.
But it didn't stop there. The Bears came out in Game 2 against No. 2 seed and No. 3 nationally ranked Central Missouri and dropped six runs in the first inning, propelling them to the 12-9 victory and giving the Bears two days off in the winners bracket. The highlight of that six-run first? The Bears' 135th home run of the season, a grand slam by DH Hogan Stallings. While there is no official Cary record book, it is believed that this was the first instance of grand slams in the same day... and although they were in two different games, they came an inning apart.
The ball has certainly been seemingly more alive in Cary this year 鈥 there were 15 home runs hit in the first two days. The Bears have hit six of them, and monster first baseman Sal Carricato already has three in Cary alone. If you didn't think Lenoir-Rhyne was a contender to win it all, you better readjust your thinking.
Northwest Nazarene was nearly flawless
The Nighthawks have been to Cary before 鈥 but only once. That was back in 2021, when they made their first appearance in the DII baseball finals and actually won a game before leaving. That team was historic and good, but this 2025 version showed it could be the team to beat this year.
Cole Calnon 鈥 one of the pitchers featured earlier this year as one of the best in DII 鈥 dealt, needing just 90 pitches to throw the first complete game of the DII baseball finals. To put that into perspective, Felician needed nearly triple that to get through its first game (252). He pitched quickly and to contact, allowing his team to make awe-inspiring defensive plays, including three double plays, , and .
This has been the Nighthawks' mission all year. Calnon and Ernesto Lugo-Canchola (the expected starter in the Nighthawks' second game) are now a combined 24-0 with a combined 2.07 ERA. The Nighthawks have lost just two games that the duo started this season. With the cavernous dimensions in the Cary ballpark, this defense is built to serve as a vacuum and limit extra base hits and run-scoring opportunities.
Roll Stable: The Mules face elimination
Central Missouri is 1-1 thus far in Cary. The Mules head to an elimination game against East Stroudsburg 鈥 a feisty team that simply never goes away. The Warriors also play in the PSAC, just like Indiana (PA). We are one year removed from Central Missouri being stunned and sent home by the PSAC's cardiac kids on IUP's unthinkable run to the semifinals.
But that was a very different team. This Mules offense is a beast, and it has shown thus far, despite the loss to Lenoir-Rhyne. After all, the Mules went down 6-0 in the top of the first, and by the time the second inning came around, they had already erased some of the deficit with two runs in the bottom half. Vance Tobol is one of two 20/20 players in DII baseball (the other being ) and already has two RBIs and four runs scored through two games. The top of this order is lethal, and with their tournament lives on the line, I can see the Mules coming out hot against East Stroudsburg. If they can get the ball to reliever JD McReynolds 鈥 who has appeared in both games and pitched four scoreless innings thus far 鈥 they may be able to hold off that Warriors' comeback attack.
Extra base hits
- Hat tip to Northwood. Yes, the Timberwolves were the first team to be eliminated, but they played two solid games. Instead of folding against the powerhouse that Central Missouri has become, they staged a comeback and nearly walked it off against the Mules in Game 1, and obviously were a few pitches away from taking care of ESU. This was their first visit to Cary, but doesn't look like it will be their last.
- After the first two days of the tournament, when every team had played one game (so, not including Sunday), there were 15 home runs hit. Most of them were absolute tanks: Nine went over 400 feet, and 13 had an exit velocity of over 100 miles per hour. Felician was the only team not to hit one, and Tampa had the most after one game, launching five in their record-setting victory.
- UT Tyler has its work cut out for it, now having to face Felician to avoid elimination. I wouldn't think the Patriots' 4-1 loss was because the lights were too bright or the stage was too big. This was the team that swept Angelo State to get here. While the Patriots were stymied by Calnon, they did put up eight hits and had some opportunities 鈥 that ridiculous Nighthawks' defense just ended every rally. That should be very different against Felician.
