GREENVILLE, S.C. – Francis Marion University won the NCAA Division II Baseball Southeast Regional Championship on Saturday night, defeating North Greenville University. Young Harris fought back to the regional final, but fell to Catawba College.

The Patriots advance to the first NCAA Super Regional in program history as they will travel to second seed Catawba College. The opening game of the Southeast Super Region championship will be on Thursday, May 21 at Catawba in Salisbury, North Carolina.

NORTH GREENVILLE REGIONAL - TOURNAMENT PAGE

No. 1 North Greenville def. No. 4 North Georgia, 7-3
North Georgia scored twice in the top of the first inning to grab the early lead. The Trailblazers took the lead with three runs in the third inning, the final two on a double from Thomas Powell. The lead remained the same until the sixth inning when Landon Peavy drove in two with a double and Samford Halcomb followed with a two-run single to give North Greenville a 7-2 lead.

North Georgia added one run in the seventh inning, but that was all North Greenville allowed to take the contest 7-3.

No. 1 North Greenville No. 5 Francis Marion
Francis Marion jumped ahead with three runs in the bottom of the first inning before adding four in the third inning. Jimmy Koza highlighted the frame with a two-run single. A Zander Buchan home run in the fourth stretched the Patriot lead to 8-0 before North Greenville started to chip away.

The Trailblazers scored three in the sixth and added two runs in the seventh inning, highlighted by a Mason Swinney home run to pull within 8-5. Will Dorrell extended the Francis Marion lead to 9-5 with a home run in the bottom of the inning. Swinney drove in another for North Greenville in the eighth inning before McAnally and Dorrell drove in runs to extend the Francis Marion lead to 11-6 going to the ninth. Lane McGaha ripped a two-run home run for North Greenville in the ninth, but that was all the Patriots allowed to take the game 11-8.

CATAWBA REGIONAL - TOURNAMENT PAGE

No. 6 Young Harris def. No. 3 Wingate, 14-3
Sydney Ward gave Young Harris a 2-0 lead with a two-run home run in the second inning. The teams traded runs in the third before Young Harris exploded with five runs in the fifth inning. Ward laced a three-run home run and Jackson Morgan drove in two with a single.

The Mountain Lion lead grew to 9-1 with a run in the top of the seventh before Wingate plated a pair in the bottom of the inning. Young Harris then put the game out of reach with five runs in the eighth inning. Jeo Hernandez drove in two with a single and Morgan ripped a two-run home run.

No. 2 Catawba def. No. 6 Young Harris
Catawba took a 3-0 lead after the second inning following a solo home run in the first inning and two solo blasts in the second inning. The Indians then added runs in the third and fourth innings to take a 5-0 lead. Morgan then lifted a two-run home run in the bottom of the fourth inning to pull the Mountain Lions within 5-2.

Catawba added one in the eighth before a Hernandez two-run single in the bottom of the inning pulled Young Harris within 6-4. However, the Mountain Lions couldn’t get any closer as Catawba took the game 6-4.