Top ranked Trailblazers dominate to start the season
Ian Johnson, Staff Writer
Photo Courtesy of Robbie Gawrys
Over five weeks into the D2 baseball season, the North Greenville University baseball team is making its case as the best team in the country. The team started the season 3-0 at the Houston Winter Invitational, with a dominant performance against No. 2 Central Missouri. CJ Dean won Conference Carolinas player of the week for his overall performance during the invitational. He went 7-12 with a home run and six RBIs across the three games.
The team returned home, where they won back-to-back games in extra innings against Lincoln Memorial University and Georgia Southwestern State.
The series with Georgia Southwestern State University was nothing short of exciting. Following the 2-1 win in the 13th inning, the team would complete the sweep, winning 22-14 and 18-5 to continue the undefeated season. CJ Dean would have another impressive performance. He finished the final two games with three home runs and 10 RBIs across two games.
Following the win against Newberry College, NGU began conference play with a series against King University and Erskine College. Matty Brown started on the mound to open the series against King. He, alongside the bullpen, completed the team’s first shutout of the season in an 11-0 win. The team opened conference play 5-1 with its only loss coming against King in the final game of the series.
The Trailblazers took on No. 21 Francis Marion in their first away series of the season. NGU won the first game with a dominant 17-4 performance led by starting pitcher Bennett Roemer, who pitched five innings, allowing only one run with five strikeouts.
While the team lost the next game, it completed the series win with a season-high scoring game. NGU won 29-11 in a game that was tied 10-10 going into the sixth inning. Ignited by a two-run homerun by catcher Connor McKee, the Trailblazers outscored Francis Marion 19-1 to close out the game.
NGU would sweep their next series against conference opponent Mount Olive before losing back-to-back games against ranked opponent, Trevecca Nazarene University.
The team is now 19-4 and is ranked No. 3 according to the NCBWA and No. 1 according to Diviibaseball. The early-season success has become normal to this baseball program, as they have made Regionals of the NCAA tournament in each of the last seven tournaments.
The team is known for its explosive scoring ability, having three players batting over .400 and averaging 11 runs a game. Josh Foulks, junior outfielder, leads the team with 37 RBIs. CJ Dean, senior outfielder, sits right behind him with 33 RBI’s and leads the team in batting average of .435.
NGU would not be as dominant as they are without its outstanding pitching staff. Preseason All-American Matty Brown has picked up where he left off last year with a 2.22 ERA.
Junior RHP, Bennett Roemar, has started off the season on another level as he is top ten in the nation in strikeouts with a 1.45 ERA.
Kadan Roach, Thomas Skipper, and Ben Leikam have also been key parts of the bullpen for the Trailblazers this season.
With the way the team is playing, the goal is clear for this team. Continue to dominate every game and prepare for a deep run in May.
