WAVERLY, Iowa-- The No. 16/19 Wartburg baseball team (33-11 overall) learned early Monday morning that it received an at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament. This marks the program's 13th appearance in the NCAA Tournament and second straight.
 
The Knights will join five other teams at GCS Ballpark in Sauget, Ill. stadium for the NCAA Regional that begins Wednesday, May 18: Augustana (Ill.), Rose Hulman, Washington University-St. Louis, Westminster (Mo.) and UW-Whitewater. Webster University will serve as hosts.

Wartburg will face Rose Hulman Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. The Fightin' Engineers hold the all-time series lead at 6-2, though the Knights won the most recent meeting last season, 11-7 in Florida.

The Knights are 19-24 all-time in the NCAA Tournament and finished as best as fourth in 2005.

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Schedule

Wednesday May 18
Game 1 — Wisconsin-Whitewater (29-14) vs. Westminster (Mo.) (28-13), Noon
Game 2 —Wartburg (33-11) vs. Rose-Hulman (29-11), 3:30 p.m.
Game 3 — Augustana (Ill.) (30-12) vs. Washington University (Mo.) (31-16), 7 p.m.

Thursday May 19
Game 4 — Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, Noon
Game 5 — Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, 3:30 p.m.
Game 6 — Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 7 p.m.

If four teams remain after Game 6, the following procedure will be observed:

Friday May 20
Game 7 — Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, TBA
Game 8 — Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6, TBA
Game 9 — Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, TBA

Saturday May 21
Game 10 — Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, TBA
Game 11 — If necessary, same teams as in Game 10, TBA

If five teams remain after Game 6, the following procedure will be observed:

Friday May 20
Game 7 — Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, TBA
Game 8 — Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, TBA
Game 9 — Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, TBA

2 Teams Left After Game 9:
Saturday May 21
Game 10 — Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, TBA
Game 11 — If necessary, same teams as in Game 10, TBA

3 Teams Left After Game 9:
Saturday May 21
Game 10 — Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9, TBA
Game 11 — Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, TBA

Wartburg
Senior Tanner Johnson (Oak Creek, Wis.) leads the team with his .365 average. Sophomore Clay Henning (Plymouth, Wis.) follows at .358, junior Jacob Thumann (DeWitt0 is at .353, sophomore Zach Hovick (Roland) has a .331 average while seniors Milton Croes (Noord, Aruba) and Ryan Kemp (Keokuk) round out those above .300 at .312 and .304, respectively.

Kemp has a team-high 35 RBIs and Thumann has a team-best 11 home runs.

Sophomore Tanner Eckhart (Monticello, Minn.) leads the pitching staff with his 1.49 ERA and is 3-0 in 54.1 innings pitched.

Rose Hulman
The Fightin' Engineers are making their seventh NCAA Division III Tournament appearance after winning their fifth Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Tournament title last weekend.

Caleb Kissel leads the team with a .376 average. Patrick Klima follows at .346, Zach Trusk is at .340, Hazen Hamather is hitting .336, Zach Hull is at .333, Drew Schnitz and David Burnside are both at .324 while Kody Alayon and Donnie Watters complete those above .300 at .315 and .300, respectively.

Alec McNally leads the pitching staff with a 1.99 ERA and is 6-0 on the mound.

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