INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. -- The NCAA announced the tournament bracket and regional locations for this year's NCAA Division III Baseball tournament on Sunday evening. The Luther College Norse, representatives of the American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) in this year's NCAA Tournament, were placed in the Whitewater, Wis. regional, as regional play is set to begin on Thursday, May 27.
Luther (31-14) will face host, the University of Wisconsin-Whitewater (37-5) in the opening round of regional play on Thursday. The Norse enter the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament after winning four games at the A-R-C AQ Tournament, clinching the AQ bid with a 4-2 win over top-seeded Coe on Sunday, May 23. First pitch from Prucha Field at James B. Miller Stadium is set for 2:30 p.m., or following the conclusion of Adrian and Salem State.
The Warhawks entered the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) tournament as co-champions with UW-Stevens Point, both holding a 24-4 record in league play. Whitewater prevailed in the conference championship against regular season co-champion Stevens Point with a 13-9 victory, securing a spot in the NCAA Tournament for the third consecutive time. The Warhawks secured a host spot in this year's regional round and enters as the No. 2 seed in the region. UW-Whitewater has two pitchers, their top two arms, who have thrown at least 50 innings and have a sub-2.00 ERA.
Westin Muir (8-1, 1.27 ERA, 63.2 IP) and
Matt O'Sullivan (9-0, 1.47 ERA, 73.2 IP). Offensively, the Warhawks are led by the bat of
Matt Korman who carries a .379 batting average with team highs in home runs (7) and RBIs (59).
Luther was one of three A-R-C teams this season to hit over .300 as a team, hitting a .303 mark which was second-best in the league.
Luke Plunkett carried the best average in the league this season, batting a solid .410 over the course of the season, along with 14 doubles, three home runs, and 34 RBI for the Norse. The Norse catcher was also tied for first in the A-R-C with nine stolen bases in 15 attempts.
On the mound, the Norse had the third-best team ERA at 4.42 in the American Rivers Conference, throwing two shutouts and punching out a league's second-best 283 batters. Led by starter
Tyler Boesel, with a 11-4 record and a 2.56 ERA on the season, has thrown 59.2 innings. Two teammates have thrown more innings as
Nick Dufoe (7-1, 4.41 ERA) and
John Colucci III (5-3, 4.81 ERA) threw 69.1 and 67.1 innings pitched, respectively. Boesel has a team high 52 strikeouts, while Colucci has a team-best .310 batting average against.
Luther will be making its sixth appearance in the national tournament (1983, 1984, 1985, 2007, 2016, 2021) and second under the direction of Head Coach
Bryan Nikkel (2016, 2021).
Keep up to date on all things Whitewater Regional on the UW-Whitewater Regional Page, linked above.
2021 Whitewater Regional Participants
| Seed |
Institution |
Conference |
Record |
Conf. Record |
| 1. |
Adrian College Bulldogs |
Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association (MIAA) |
32-7 |
21-2 |
| 2. |
University of Wisconsin-Whitewater Warhawks |
Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference (WIAC) |
37-5 |
24-4 |
| 3. |
Texas Lutheran University Bulldogs |
Southern Collegiate Athletic Conference (SCAC) |
28-12 |
15-3 |
| 4. |
Penn State Harrisburg Nittany Lions |
North Eastern Athletic Conference (NEAC) |
28-7 |
18-2 |
| 5. |
Luther College Norse |
American Rivers Conference (A-R-C) |
31-14 |
23-9 |
| 6. |
Salem State University Vikings |
Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference (MSCAC) |
13-9 |
5-3 |
Whitewater Regional schedule - *All times central*
Thursday, May 27
Game 1 - No. 1-seed Adrian vs. No. 6-seed Salem State |
11:00 a.m.
Game 2 - No. 2-seed UW-Whitewater vs. No. 5-seed Luther |
2:30 p.m.
Game 3 - No. 3-seed Texas Lutheran vs. No. 4-seed Penn State Harrisburg |
6:00 p.m.
Friday, May 28
Game 4 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 |
11:00 a.m.
Game 5 - Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3 |
2:30 p.m.
Game 6 - Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3 |
6:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 29 - Matchups determined by results of first two days
Game 7 - TBD vs. TBD |
11:00 a.m.
Game 8 - TBD vs. TBD |
2:30 p.m.
Game 9 - TBD vs. TBD |
6:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 30 - Matchups determined by results of first three days
Game 10 - TBD vs. TBD | Time TBD
Game 11 - TBD vs. TBD | Time TBD
