Mount Olive, North Greenville Win Opening Games of 2023 NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals
NEWBERRY/TIGERVILLE, S.C. - It was a thrilling first day of the 2023 NCAA Division II Southeast Regionals for Conference Carolinas.
In Tigerville, there was no shortage of fireworks as 2023 Conference Carolinas tournament champion Mount Olive, the four seed in the region, held on to defeat five seed Georgia Southwestern, 5-4, before John Micheal Faile broke the NCAA Division II career home run record in dramatic fashion, a walk-off, three-run home run to give 2023 Conference Carolinas regular season champion and No. 1 seed North Greenville a 6-5 victory over the Hurricanes.
Mount Olive collected 12 hits, led by a 4-for-4 game with two runs scored and two RBIs from Cooper George. The Trojans scored a single run in the fourth, fifth and eighth innings and added a pair in the sixth while GSW scored all four runs in the ninth. The Hurricanes scored first in game two against the Crusaders with three in the first and one in the second. They held a 4-0 lead until NGU scored a single run in the seventh and two more in the eighth to make it a one score game. The visitors added another in the ninth, but a pair of hits set the stage for Faile who sent a 1-0 pitch over the wall for his 76th career home run and a walk-off winner.
North Greenville and Mount Olive will play a best-of-three series to determine the regional winner. The first game will be on Friday, May 19 at 7:30 p.m. Game two will be on Saturday, May 20 at 2 p.m. with the if necessary third game to begin 40 minutes after game two.
In Newberry, rain forced the postponement of No. 3 Belmont Abbey and No. 6 Columbus State to Friday, May 19 at 12 p.m. The weather caused host and second-seed Newberry to face No. 7 UNC Pembroke at 9:30 p.m., six hours after the scheduled start time. UNC Pembroke ace, Jonathan Jacobs, was perfect through three innings, but four hits and an error led to five runs for the Wolves in the fourth as they went on to win the contest, 12-3. Newberry will face the winner of Belmont Abbey and Columbus State on Friday at 7 p.m. while UNC Pembroke will face the loser on Friday at 3:30 p.m. in an elimination game.
Southeast Regional No. 1 (Tigerville, S.C.)
Regional Website
Thursday, May 18
Game 1: No. 4 Mount Olive def. No. 5 Georgia Southwestern, 5-4 (Box Score)
Game 2: No. 1 North Greenville def. No. 5 Georgia Southwestern, 6-5 (Box Score)
Friday, May 19
Game 3: No. 4 Mount Olive vs. No. 1 North Greenville, 7:30 p.m.
Saturday, May 20
Game 4: No. 1 North Greenville vs. No. 4 Mount Olive, 2 p.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 4, 40 minutes after game 4 (If Necessary)
Southeast Regional No. 2 (Newberry, S.C.)
Regional Website
Thursday, May 18
Game 1: No. 2 Newberry vs. No. 7 UNC Pembroke, 12-3 (
Box Score)
Friday, May 19
Game 2: No. 3 Belmont Abbey vs. No. 6 Columbus State, 12 p.m.
Game 3: No. 7 UNC Pembroke vs. Loser Game 2, 3:30 p.m.
Game 4: No. 2 Newberry vs. Winner Game 2, 7 p.m.
Saturday, May 20
Game 5: Winner Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 7 p.m.
Sunday, May 21
Game 7: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 6, 3:30 p.m. (If Necessary)