Championships set for four regionals

Chapman's Tyler Hadzinsky steals home with two outs in the top of the first to help the Panthers to a 9-3 victory over Concordia-Texas Friday. Chapman athletics photo by Jeff Jackson

The South, Central, Midwest and West regionals are down to the final two teams. Shenandoah, Buena Vista, UW-Whitewater and Chapman need one win on Saturday to advance with their opponents needing two wins on the final day.

In the Mideast, Marietta has already claimed a spot in the championship game and they will wait to see if they will play Case Western Reserve or Heidelberg. A Marietta loss in the second game of the day would move the regional final to Sunday.

Fog suspended the final game on Friday, forcing the New England championship game to Sunday. Out in the New York and Mid-Atlantic regionals, it was rain that played havoc with the schedules and force a Sunday finale.

Chapman cruised to its third-straight victory, a 9-3 win over Concordia-Texas, as Christian Maietta pitched eight innings and allowed three runs to pick up the win on the mound.  The Panthers eliminated the Tornados leaving just No. 1 seed Linfield and themselves as the No. 2 seed to decide the region champion and NCAA Division III World Series representative next weekend.

More Regionals day three coverage: Scoreboard | Surviving Day three

Buena Vista knocked out the defending champion Illinois Wesleyan 7-6 on their home field to move to 3-0 in the regional. The Beavers will face Carthage in the first championship game and, if Carthage wins, there would be a second game immediately following.

UW-Whitewater defeated UW-Stevens Point 2-1 on Friday to stay undefeated in the Midwest regional. Jeff Donovan scattered nine hits in the complete game win as he kept a potent Pointer offense off balance. The Warhawks will need to win one game on Saturday to make their fifth trip to the Championship round.

One year ago, Ben Hendrickson pitched Shenandoah into the regional championship game with a complete game shutout. Against Piedmont, Hendrickson nearly turned the trick again in the exact same manner as the Hornets eliminated Piedmont with a 6-1 victory. Hendrickson threw a complete game six-hitter, allowing just an unearned run in the eighth while walking one and striking out one. Shenandoah will face Salisbury at noon CDT tomorrow in the regional championship. Salisbury, which fell to Shenandoah in the 2010 regional championship game, will have to beat the Hornets twice to claim the title.