Denison & DePauw Collects Win, Wittenberg Drops First Game in NCAA Baseball Regionals

5/15/2026 6:56:41 PM

GRANVILLE, OH/ADRIAN, MI -- Denison (41-1) collected an 5-4 victory over Grinnell (25-17) and DePauw (29-13) defeated Adrian (31-11) 12-4, while Wittenberg (31-13) fell 9-5 to Webster (32-14) in the opening games of the 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Regionals in Granville, Ohio and Adrian, Michigan.

Denison and DePauw advance into the winner's bracket, while Wittenberg moves into the elimination bracket. The Big Red will play Cortland (30-10-1), while DePauw will take on Webster (32-14) and Wittenberg will face Adrian (31-11).

GRANVILLE GAME 1: Denison 5, Grinnell 4

Cade Nowik's (Lake Forest, IL/Lake Forest) walk-off RBI single in the bottom of the ninth lifted top-ranked Denison to a 5-4 win over Grinnell on Friday in Game 1 of the NCAA Granville Regional at Big Red Field.
Denison trailed 4-3 entering the bottom of the eighth before mounting a comeback. Andrew Fazio (Minneapolis, MN/Southwest Minneapolis) drew a one-out walk, and pinch runner Brady Olsen (Hudson, OH/Gilmour Academy) advanced to third on a wild pitch and a Nate Lloyd (Oakwood, OH/Oakwood) sacrifice bunt. Pinch hitter Jack Rollo (Chesterfield, MO/Mary Institute and Saint Louis Country Day School) then singled to center to score Olsen and tie the game at 4-4.
In the ninth, Kelly Crittenberger (McLean, VA/Potomac School) ripped a two-out double to left-center to put the winning run in scoring position, and Nowik followed with an RBI single to right-center to earn the Big Red the win.
Grinnell struck first with a two-run third before Denison answered immediately in the bottom half. Fazio singled, Lloyd walked, and Bobby Haarde (Sudbury, MA/Lincoln-Sudbury Regional) dropped a bunt single to load the bases. Sacrifice flies from Eron Vega (Evanston, IL/Evanston Township) and Erik Sundgren (Pittsburgh, PA/North Allegheny) brought home a pair to tie it at 2-2.
The Big Red broke the tie in the seventh when Sundgren singled, stole second, and scored on Max Fishbein's (Atlanta, GA/Druid Hills) RBI single to right. Grinnell answered with two runs in the eighth before Rollo's pinch-hit single knotted the score again.
Will Rettig (Perrysburg, OH/Perrysburg) was credited with the win after going 4.2 innings, scattering seven hits and two runs while striking out five. Devin Parker (Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy Orange) recorded his sixth save with a 1.1-inning, three-strikeout effort, while Cooper Marrs (Riverside, IL/Riverside-Brookfield) added five strikeouts over 2.2 innings of relief.
Sundgren led the Denison offense with a 2-for-4 day including a double and an RBI, while Fazio reached base four times via two hits and two walks. Nowik and Fishbein each drove in a run, and Crittenberger's late double set up the walk-off.

ADRIAN GAME 1: Webster 9, Wittenberg 5

Wittenberg struck first and battled to the end but couldn't overcome a four-run Webster seventh inning as the Tigers fell 9-5 in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Regionals on Friday at Nicolay Field.
Wittenberg got on the board in the bottom of the first when Xander Rodriguez's (Salinas, PR/Franklin County) sacrifice fly to center scored Landon Turner (Tipp City, OH/Tippecanoe), who had walked, to make it 1-0.
Starter Andrew Rust (Dublin, OH/Coffman) kept the lead intact through the early innings, scattering eight hits and two runs over 5.2 strong frames while striking out seven. Webster tied it in the fifth on an RBI groundout and pushed ahead with a run in the sixth before breaking it open with a four-run seventh to take a 6-1 lead.
The Tigers answered in the bottom half. Turner drew his second walk of the day and James MacAuley (Grosse Pointe Woods, MI/Grosse Pointe North) singled to put two on for Tommy Chilicki (Lewis Center, OH/Olentangy), who ripped a two-RBI triple down the right field line to bring Wittenberg within three at 6-3.
Webster tacked on three more in the eighth to push the lead to 9-3, but Wittenberg refused to fold. MacAuley's RBI double to left-center scored Quintin Applegate (Delaware, OH/Olentangy Berlin) in the bottom of the eighth, and Rodriguez's RBI single up the middle in the ninth brought home Alex Nemunaitis (Perrysburg, OH/Ottawa Hills) to close the scoring at 9-5.
Rust took the loss despite the strong outing. Chilicki finished 3-for-5 with the triple and two RBI to lead the Wittenberg offense, while Applegate added two doubles and MacAuley went 2-for-4 with a double and an RBI. Rodriguez drove in two runs. Turner reached base three times via walk and scored twice, while Nemunaitis and Applegate also crossed home plate.

ADRIAN GAME 2: DePauw 12, Adrian 4

Jameson Benes (Libertyville, IL/Libertyville) went the distance and DePauw bashed three home runs as the Tigers rolled past host Adrian 12-4 on Friday in the opening round of the NCAA Division III Regionals.
DePauw wasted no time setting the tone, scoring three times in the first. Aidan Howard (Portland, OR/Tualatin) led off with a double, Max Bond (Zionsville, IN/Zionsville) followed with a two-run home run to left, and Louis Florida (Wilmette, IL/New Trier) added a solo shot to right with two outs to make it 3-0.
The Tigers tacked on a run in the second on Howard's RBI double, then broke the game open with a six-run fourth. After Tyler Walkey's (Carmel, IN/Carmel) two-out RBI single sparked the rally, Howard and Bond reached to load the bases, and Grady Johnson (Lexington, KY/Sayre), Zach O'Connell (Montgomery, OH/Cincinnati Hills Christian) and Florida followed with three straight RBI hits to push the lead to 10-1.
DePauw added a run in the fifth on Walkey's RBI single, and Bryson Dorsey (Westfield, IN/Guerin Catholic) crushed a solo home run to center in the seventh to make it 12-1. Adrian closed the gap with two runs in the bottom of the seventh and added a solo home run in the eighth to set the final at 12-4.
Benes was the workhorse on the mound, scattering 11 hits across nine innings while walking none and striking out four to earn the complete-game win.
Florida led the offense with a 3-for-5 day including the home run, a double and three RBI. Walkey added three hits, two RBI and two runs scored, while Dorsey finished 2-for-5 with the homer and Howard added two hits including a double. Bond's homer drove in two, and O'Connell drove in two more.

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