North Greenville’s National Championship run ends in third round
CARY, N.C. – North Greenville saw its season come to an end in the 2023 NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina on Wednesday afternoon in an 8-4 loss to Southern New Hampshire.
The Crusaders (50-11), the No. 2 seed in the field and top-ranked team in the nation, saw its title defense fall short against No. 6 seed and 10th-ranked Southern New Hampshire (47-12)
North Greenville got on the board first in the third thanks to a Pat Monteith two-run single, but the Penmen answered in the bottom of the frame with a two-run single of their own. Jax Cash drove in a run on a sacrifice fly in the fourth to put the Tigerville, South Carolina program ahead, 3-2.
Unfortunately for the Crusaders, Southern New Hampshire scored the next six runs, including two in the fifth on consecutive RBI singles. The difference in the game came in the bottom of the eighth when the Manchester, New Hampshire program scored four runs, all with two outs, to break the game open. The big hit came via a 3-run home run.
North Greenville threatened in the ninth as Andrew Kaminsky drove a 1-0 pitch 412-feet with one out to cut the lead to four, 8-4, and Carter Dierdorf and Monteith each singled, but two quick outs ended the threat and the season for the 2023 Conference Carolinas regular season champions.
SNHU outhit NGU 11-7 in the contest and were led by Anderson Mor who was 3-for-4 with three RBIs and two runs scored. Monteith paced the Crusaders’ attack with a 3-for-4 game and two RBIs while Cash and Kaminsky each had a hit, a run scored and an RBI.
Frankie Sanc (8-1) earned the win as he allowed one unearned run with four walks and five strikeouts over 5.2 hitless innings of relief and Jeffrey Pram (1) earned the save. Brody Fowler (8-1) took the loss.
Southern New Hampshire advances to face No. 3 Angelo State on Thursday at 6 p.m. while No. 4 Rollins will face No. 5 Cal St. San Bernardino in the other bracket.
