The NCAA Division III baseball tournament selection committee announced the Super Regional host sites for the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships on Monday, May 22. The Aurora University Spartans who defeated John Carroll University 3-0 in the best of five regional series, will host the Yellow Jackets of Baldwin Wallace University.
The Spartans of Aurora University (42-4 overall) will host Baldwin Wallace University (34-10 overall), winners of the Ohio Athletic Conference, in the Aurora Super Regional on Jim Schmid Field at Stuart Sports Complex. Making their 25th appearance overall, fifth consecutive NCAA Regional appearance and first ever Super Regional appearance, the Spartans will take on the Yellow Jackets on Friday, May 26 with first pitch scheduled for 12:00 p.m. The teams will play one game for sure and possibly two games on Saturday, May 27 with first-pitch of game one at 11:00 a.m. The third game of the series would be an if necessary game in the best of three series which would start 45 minutes after the end of game two.
AU and BWU share two common opponents in the University of Mount Union and John Carroll University. AU is 4-0 against the two opponents while Baldwin Wallace is 2-3. Baldwin Wallace won the Denison Regional with a 3-0 record defeating Spaulding University and beating the hosts from Denison twice to advance to the Super Regional. AU swept the best of five series with John Carroll University to advance to the Super Regional.
The Spartans earned their place in the 2023 NCAA Division III Championships after winning the 2023 Northern Athletics Conference (NACC) regular season and tournament championship. The Spartans have a 42-4 overall record. As a team the Spartans are hitting .326 and having scored 451 runs with 52 home runs, 16 triples and 98 doubles and rank among the top in Division III in almost all statistical categories. As a pitching staff, the Spartans have a 4.04 earned run average and opponents hit .267 against. As a fielding team, the Spartans are fielding .979 and have committed 34 errors in 46 games played.
Baldwin Wallace earned their place in the 2023 NCAA Division III Championship field by an at-large bid and won the 2023 Ohio Athletic Conference (OAC) regular season title. BW has a 34-10 overall record. As a team they are hitting .333 and have scored 394 runs with 38 home runs, 10 triples, and 107 doubles. As a pitching staff, BW has a 4.38 earned run average and opponents hit .249 against. As a fielding team, BW is fielding .970 and has committed 51 errors in 44 games played.
