Baseball | 5/12/2015 10:57:00 AM

NCAA Tournament Preview
 
Game 1: #1 Rhodes vs. #6 Methodist
Wednesday, May 13, 2015
Demorest, Ga. (Piedmont College - Loudermilk Field) - 12:00 pm

LIVE STATS  |  LIVE VIDEO
 
Winner will play the loser of #3 Birmingham-Southern vs. #4 Marietta on Thursday at 3:30 pm
Loser will play the loser of #2 Pacific Lutheran vs. #5 Emory on Thursday at 12:00 pm
 
The Series:
Methodist and Rhodes are meeting for just the third time, with the Lynx having won each of the first two meetings. The last meeting between the two schools came on Mar. 7, 2010 in Fayetteville, N.C., and resulted in a 6-1 win for Rhodes.
 
How They Got Here:
Methodist posted a 32-8 record on the season and is currently ranked No. 12 in the d3baseball.com Top 25 and No. 10 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Top 30. The Monarchs secured the USA South's automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 24-6 regular season to finish atop the league standings and two games clear of second-place Huntingdon. . The 24 wins marked a new conference record for league wins in a season. The Monarchs had a 15-game win streak at one point during the season and have won 23 of their last 24 games.
 
Rhodes enters with a 32-11 overall record and is currently ranked eighth in each of the polls while also holding the No. 2 ranking in the NCAA South Region. The Lynx garnered the automatic bid from the SAA (Southern Athletic Association) with an undefeated conference tournament run capped by a 2-1 win over Birmingham-Southern in the SAA Championship game.
 
The Coaches:
Methodist head coach Tom Austin is in his 36th year at the helm of the Monarchs and is one of the most successful coaches in NCAA Division III history. To date, his record stands at 1,086-481-9 (.710) and he is making his 22nd trip to the tournament. This year, he was named the USA South Coach of the Year for the record 11th time. Under his direction, the Monarchs have never finished below .500 and have never won fewer than 20 games in a season.
 
Rhodes is led by 12th-year head coach Jeff Cleanthes. He came to Rhodes prior to the 2005 season after a three-year stint as the head coach at Keuka. Since taking over at Rhodes, he as posted a 274-196 (.583), though that mark has improved to 250-145 (.633) over the last nine seasons. In 2013, he led the Lynx to their first ever NCAA Tournament.
 
1-2 Punch
Josh Howard and Travis Johnson make up a formidable duo at the top of the MU pitching rotation. Howard, the USA South Pitcher of the Year, is 8-1 on the year with an ERA of 2.76. His eight wins were the most in the USA South as were his 81.2 innings pitched, and his 66 strikeouts. Johnson, a First Team All-USA South performer as well, has had a strikingly similar season to that of Howard. In 81.1 innings pitched, Johnson compiled an identical 8-1 record with a 2.66 ERA and 65 strikeouts. MU was 11-2 in games in which Howard pitched and 13-2 in games in which Johnson pitched. Nationally, they are each ranked in the Top 5 in NCAA Division III in games started and in the Top 20 in games won.


Josh Howard 2015 Stats
Travis Johnson 2015 stats







Battery Mates
In addition to the 1-2 punch on the hill, the Monarchs feature a duo that has been just as productive behind the plate. Ray Lanners and Chris Power shared the catching duties for much of the year with Power playing 28 of his 36 games behind the plate and Lanners making 14 appearances at catcher. Each was named to the all-conference first team, Power as a catcher and Lanners as a designated hitter. For the season, Lanners is hitting .376, which the second-highest mark on the team, and he leads the squad with 15 doubles, three home runs and 38 RBI. Power is hitting .367 with a team-best 41 runs and has 12 doubles, five triples, a home run and 28 RBI.  
 
Honorable Mention
In addition to the four first team all-conference selections mentioned above, the Monarchs had a pair of players pick up honorable mention all-conference accolades in first baseman Matt Jack and outfielder Alex Rodriguez. Jack has a batting average of .367, including nine doubles and a pair of home runs while also scoring 29 runs. Rodriguez leads the team with a batting average of .377 and he is third with 38 runs scored. He has doubled 10 times, added a pair of triples and a home run with 27 RBI. His 15 sacrifice bunts currently lead NCAA Division III, and he has added four stolen bases, as well as a perfect 1.000 fielding percentage in the outfield with a pair of outfield assists.