Baseball team makes NCAA tournament
For the first time in eight years, the University of North Georgia (Â鶹ÊÓƵ) baseball team is back in the NCAA Division II tournament.
The Nighthawks (39-15) earned the sixth seed in the Southeast Regional and will begin regional play at 3 p.m. May against third-seeded Lenoir-Rhyne University (43-12) in Belmont, North Carolina. No. 2 seed Belmont Abbey College (40-15) is hosting the four-team, double-elimination Southeast Regional pod and will take on No. 7 seed Carson Newman University (37-17) at 6 p.m. May 15.
This marks the fourth NCAA tournament appearance and 10th overall national postseason berth under legendary head coach , who is retiring this year at the end of his 26th season.
"They earned this opportunity all year long. They love and play for each other," Cantrell said. "I'm excited to see them compete in the regional."
In the other pod of the Southeast Regional bracket, top-seeded Catawba College will host fourth-seeded Young Harris College, fifth-seeded North Greenville University and eighth-seeded Lander University in Salisbury, North Carolina.
"This is my first time making it to the NCAA tournament, and I wouldn't want to do it with anyone else. It makes it even more meaningful doing it in Coach Cantrell's final season. He's poured his heart into this program for decades and built the foundation we're standing on today," graduate student pitcher said. "This team is going to cherish this moment for a lifetime, but just making it isn't the end goal. This is just the beginning for this team."
The winners of the two Southeast regional pods will meet at the highest remaining seed May 22-24 in a best-of-three Super Regional series with a chance to advance to the eight-team NCAA Division II College World Series (CWS), set for May 30-June 7 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
The Nighthawks are looking to head back to the CWS for the first time since 2017 and second time in program history.
"This team has a lot of veterans, and we have been through so much together the last few years. This group of guys has learned to leave it all on the field, and we don't take anything for granted," Williams said. "We go into every game playing like our hair is on fire, and we stick to the plan and trust each other."
NCAA Division II Southeast Regional pod
Belmont Abbey College, Belmont, North Carolina
May 15
Game 1: No. 3 seed Lenoir-Rhyne vs. No. 6 seed University of North Georgia, 3 p.m.
Game 2: No. 2 seed Belmont Abbey vs. No. 7 seed Carson-Newman, 6 p.m.
May 16
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 3 p.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 6 p.m.
May 17
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 4 p.m.
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 7 p.m.
May 18
Game 7: (If necessary) Game 6 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 3 p.m.
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