GREENCASTLE, IND. - With their Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference championship, the DePauw baseball team is headed to the 42-team NCAA Division III Championship and begins regional play on Thursday, May 16, against 10th-ranked Ohio Wesleyan University (40-10) at Marietta College's Pioneer Park at 4:30 p.m. EDT. Marietta, 41-7-1 and ranked 15th in Division III, takes on second-ranked Allegheny College (29-9) in the 1 p.m. game on Thursday. Each of DePauw's tournament games can be heard on WGRE (91.5FM). Complete tournament schedule

NCAA Mideast Regional

Under the leadership of second-year head coach Matt Walker, the Tigers finished with a 26-17 record including a 12-4 first-place finish in the SCAC Eastern Division. DePauw won its first SCAC title in its three years in the conference by posting a 3-1 mark at the conference tournament, hosted by DePauw, in late April. In a three-day stretch, the Tigers knocked off 12th-ranked and NCAA tournament-bound Southwestern (Texas) University twice and beat Trinity (Texas) University once.

Pacing the Tigers' offense is junior shortstop Jarrett Hunt with a .408 batting average and senior first baseman Javair Gillett at .397. As a team, DePauw enters the tournament with a .316 average. Sophomore Pat Creel and freshman Dave Edmonds each won five games for the Tigers, while freshman Tyson Becker leads the squad with a 3.61 earned run average while posting a 4-0 mark. As a team, DePauw has a 4.86 ERA. The Tigers lead the SCAC

The appearance is the Tigers' first in the Division III tournament since 1979 and their fourth overall. DePauw made three straight NCAA appearances from 1977 through 1979 under veteran coach Edward Meyer. Prior to that they appeared in the

Ohio Wesleyan earned automatic qualification into the NCAA Championship by winning the North Coast Athletic Conference Championship. In a best-of-three series with Allegheny, the Battling Bishops won by scores of 9-7 and 16-11. The appearance is Ohio Wesleyan's sixth straight, 11th in the last 12

Allegheny earned an at-large bid to the tournament after finishing second to Ohio Wesleyan at the NCAC Championship. The Gators are making their third straight trip to the

Marietta holds the Division III record with appearances in all 26 championships since Division III began in 1976. The Pioneers earned automatic qualification into the tournament by winning the Ohio Athletic Conference tournament. Marietta has won three Division III titles and were runners-up four

Interestingly, the last time DePauw faced Ohio Wesleyan came in the 1961 NCAA tournament with the Tigers winning 4-1 to claim third place in the Mideast Region. Overall, the Tigers are 3-3 in meetings with the Battling Bishops in a series that

DePauw is 0-3 all-time against Marietta with the last meetings coming in 1998 in games that Marietta won 7-6 and 8-7. The Pioneers eliminated the Tigers from the 1977 Division III tournament by a 13-4 score in the only other game between the two schools. DePauw and Allegheny have

NCAA Division III Mideast Regional Schedule