2015 D-II Baseball National Finals - Title Day Preview

It is the final day of the 2015 NCAA Division II baseball season, and there is a national championship on the line. For Tampa, they are looking to capture their seventh title in school history and second in the last three years. For Catawba, who needs a doubleheader sweep today, it will be their first opportunity to claim the national crown.

Saturday, May 30th, 3:00 PM Eastern (Elimination Game for Catawba)
If Catawba wins first game, winner-take-all game will be played at 7 p.m. Eastern.

Catawba (47-14)
vs
Tampa (42-13)

NCAA Live Stats ||| NCAA Live Video

It is offense against offense in this championship game and potential championship series. Outside of Pomona, Tampa and Catawba are next in line to get advice from when it comes to scoring runs.

Tampa came to Cary as the team with the highest team batting average among any squad playing for the national title, and they remain that way now. The highly-experienced team full of players and coaches who have ventured deep in to the NCAA postseason keep finding their way to runs no matter who the opposing pitcher is.

For Catawba, it was said in yesterday's game that they will not be putting Craig Brooks on the mound at any point to start a game, which takes away an ace that they have had all year. He is instead serving as a relief pitcher, leaving the Indians some interesting options out of the bullpen to try and get 18 more innings of work done.

To be blunt, it doesn't quite matter who the Spartans are putting on the mound. Tampa's starting pitchers carry a pretty similar stat-line with them no matter who they are, and they rely on their offense more than their pitching. The Spartan offense will have to be on top of their game to keep them involved, but if any team in the country is going to get involved in an offensive onslaught and need to keep up, Tampa is going to be the team best suited for it.

If Catawba can beat Tampa in the opening game at 3 p.m., the two teams will face off again at 7 p.m. in a winner-take-all final game. A Tampa win in the 3 p.m. game ends the season for Catawba.