Jack Potter (pictured), Andrew Mazzone and Tyler Shaw each hit home runs, and Aaron Herst went five solid innings to get the win, as the CMS baseball team defeated Chicago 12-2 in its season opener on Friday at Ben Hines Field. Claremont Mudd Scripps athletics photo by Thomas Walker

Once again opening the season against a fierce regional rival, second-ranked Salisbury rose to the occasion to top the 10th-ranked Cortland Red Dragons, 8-3, on Friday afternoon at Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium. The Sea Gulls wasted no time getting their new-look lineup into the swing of things and never trailed. Cole Williams (1-0) looked the part in his collegiate debut, finishing the job on the mound with 4.2 scoreless frames. Williams walked one and fanned four. Tyler Villa lasted 4.1 effective innings in his first start of the year, giving up three runs on seven hits with one walk and one strikeout on 78 pitches.

Whitworth's offense exploded for 20 hits on the opening day of the 2024 baseball season, defeating Occidental 18-2 at Anderson Baseball Field on Friday in a game called after eight innings due to darkness. Whitworth (1-0) earned the opening day win while Occidental fell to 3-3 overall on the season. The Pirates' bats started the game hot and never slowed. The Bucs were able to score in seven of the eight frames. Whitworth's offensive highlights included Elijah Tanner's four-for-five day at the plate, and home runs from both Henry Zaske and Aaron Clogston. Five Pirates were able to record a multi-hit game, while Clogston, Zaske, Aiden Morrison and Jacob Doughty led the Bucs with three RBIs apiece.

• Scores from Saturday February 16th
• Games on Sunday February 17th

No. 12 Birmingham-Southern started the 2024 season with a 4-2 win on Friday against Millikin in the BSC Spring Classic. A solo home run by Andrew Dutton to right field on the team's first hit of the night put BSC ahead. Jakob Zito then hit a hard ground ball through the left side to score two more runs for BSC giving them a 3-0 lead. Millikin eventually got on the board in the top of the seventh on a two-run double but could not find the tying talley. In the other game in the BSC Classic, ETBU no-hit Lynchburg - winning 5-0.

Belhaven notched their first two wins of the 2024 campaign, taking two from Hardin-Simmons on Friday at Hunter Field. The Blazers (2-3) took down the Cowboys (1-4) in extra innings, 4-3, in Game 1. A pinch-hit grand slam in the seventh inning from Trey Flettrich gave Belhaven a 6-5 win in the nightcap. Brett Sanchez was once again dominant on the mound for the Blazers, taking a no-hitter into the bottom of the fifth inning of the opener. The right-hander picked up nine strikeouts and walked just one in seven innings. Down to their last out in the seven-inning nightcap, Belhaven loaded the bases after a walk issued to Hunter Harrell. Trey Flettrich was then called upon to pinch hit against a new HSU arm, and the freshman delivered with a go-ahead grand slam to put Belhaven in front, 6-5. Cooper Williams came on to shut the door in the home half with a pair of strikeouts to complete the comeback for the Blazers.

Kean breezed to a 15-0 win over SUNY Old Westbury on Friday afternoon. Kean (2-1) jumped out to a quick 5-0 lead in the first as Phil Marcantonio tripled home two runners, followed by an RBI single from Trevor Coltenback and an RBI double from Brett Hilsheimer. All nine batters had an at-bat in the first inning. The Cougars added three more in the second, one in the third and three in the fourth on C.J. Tomalavage's blast, giving Kean a 12-0 lead. The Cougars added three in the eight to close out the scoring. On the mound, Nolan Rowan earned the win after tossing five innings of shutout ball. He allowed two hits and one walk while fanning seven.

• ETBU pitchers Collins, Croft no-hits Lynchburg
• Aaron Holley wins 200th game with Redlands
• Mike Stawski also earned his 300th career win as Mary Hardin Baylor opens 1-0.
  

Fontbonne traveled to Atlanta for a three-game series against Oglethorpe and they split their first two games. Fontbonne defeated Oglethorpe on game one, 16-7 and fell to Oglethorpe on game two, 10-4. Zach Williams grabbed the game one win on the mound. He pitched 6.0 innings and struck out five while allowing seven hits and three runs. Game two was all tied at 4-4 midway through the seventh before Jonathan Cruz singled to lead off the bottom half, then took second on a stolen base. Two batters later, Cruz was on third with two out and Fontbonne just two strikes away from being out of the jam until Barnes smoked his second career home run into the parking lot of neighboring Dorough Field House. It was a no-doubter. Ahead then 6-4, relief pitcher Dylan Quintilio answered Barnes' go-ahead dinger by striking out the side on 14 pitches in the top of the eighth, then faced only one over the minimum on a walk in the ninth. Between those two frames, Oglethorpe put up a four-spot in the bottom of the eight to put the game out of reach.

Starting pitcher Luke Wechsler dealt five innings of one-run ball and every hitter in the Kingsmen starting lineup reached base on opening day as Cal Lutheran baseball kicked off the season with a 7-1 victory against Puget Sound on Friday afternoon. Wechsler (1-0) brought energy in his outing, establishing his presence from the get-go with a one-two-three first inning that included a strikeout, the first of his six K's in the game. The Kingsmen (1-0, 0-0 SCIAC) offense followed suit with early runs. The Loggers (0-1) kept it close until the bottom of the eighth inning when the Kingsmen tacked on three insurance runs to make it a 7-1 game. Joshua Kim took care of the Puget Sound offense in the eighth and the ninth. He earned the save, facing the minimum in two innings of work and striking out three en route to a Kingsmen win.

It was a great Opening Day for the 2024 Greensboro squad, as the Pride were victorious over Lycoming College on Friday afternoon, 9-5. Chris Le and Adam Weber led the offense with 3 hits each. Lycoming claimed a 5-4 lead in the 6th when Evan Mok drove home a run on an RBI single. That would be the only lead for Lycoming, however, as the Pride came back with three runs in the bottom of the 6th, and then added another run in the 7th inning to make the score 9-5. Stephen Dunlow entered the game on the mound in the 8th inning and worked out of trouble to seal the win for Greensboro. Dunlow struck out three batters in 2 innings of work.

George Fox opened their 2024 season with an electric performance over Schreiner in Texas, putting on a clinic with both their bats and on the mound to take the win, 20-3. George Fox athletics photo

The Centenary (N.J.) Cyclones opened up the season with a thriller win in extra innings. The final score of the opening day game was 7-4. Offensively the Cyclones ended the game with seven runs scored on fifteen hits. As a team, the Cyclones hit .294 on the day with multiple players contributing a multi-hit game. Defensively, the Cyclones played clean baseball as they did not commit any errors in eleven innings of action, while recording thirty-three putouts. On the mound, the Cyclones staff would allow just four runs as they racked up six strikeouts on the day and held the Generals to just one stolen base.

• Regional Previews
• Preseason D3baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25
• Preseason D3baseball.com All-American team

Bonus baseball on day one of the 2024 season provided fans with plenty of fireworks at Captains Park on Friday afternoon as the 20th-ranked Christopher Newport team opened the season with a 2-1 extra-inning win over William Peace (1-2). Junior transfer Doc Daniels delivered the game-winning blow with a two-out walk-off single in the bottom of the 10th, upstaging one of the most dominant pitching performances in CNU baseball history. The Captains pitching staff combined for 19 strikeouts against the Pacers on Friday, marking the finest opening day effort ever and the second most punchouts in a game in program history. Fifth-year starter Dylan Weber led the way with his seventh career double-digit strikeout performance, retiring 12 batters on strikes in six innings pitched. He started the game for CNU and allowed just two hits and one run over six strong, tying the second most strikeouts in a game during his career.

Hood split their 2024 opening day doubleheader with Elmira, losing the first game 14-7, then shutting out the Soaring Eagles 6-0 in the second matchup. Tyler Schwarzman led Hood in batting, going 5-8 on the day with a perfect 4-4 in game one, two RBIs, and five stolen bases. Cristian Reyna was a ball magnet, getting hit four times throughout the series. Dutch DeProspero started game two and struck out five batters through four innings, only allowing one hit through four innings, walking two. Finn Scott-Daniels closed out game two with two strikeouts, only allowing one hit. In the opening game, a five-run fifth inning from the Soaring Eagles put the Blazers in a sizable hole, but they were only able to get one more run across in the final two innings while Elmira put up three more in the seventh to collect a wild 14-7 win.

Dubuque picked up their first sweep of the season with a 7-4 win over Lyon. With the win the Spartans have opened up the season 3-0. Lyon took 4-2 lead into the fifth inning. The Spartans got a home run out of Maguire Fitzgerald to lead off the top of the fifth inning to cut the Lyon lead to one run and another to knot the score in the sixth. The Spartans would get the winning margin three more runs in the top of the seventh inning off a Daniel Maller single and then a Husko two-run shot that just stayed fair along the right field line. Colin Husko and Aidan Elfering both ended with two hits that included two RBI's. Along with his great day at the plate, Elfering started the game on the mound and went four innings giving up four runs while striking out six batters. Patrick Rafferty came in for 3.0 innings allowing only three hits and striking out three. Christian Battista got the save in the final two innings facing the final six batters and only allowing a hit.

Texas-Dallas opened the 2024 season with a pair of wins over Texas Lutheran at UTD Baseball Field Friday afternoon. The Comets (2-0) offense looked unstoppable in game one as they defeated the bulldogs (5-4) 15-5 in seven innings. In the nightcap, UTD overcame a 5-1 deficit to win 6-5 on a walk-off home run from senior right fielder Luke Finn in the bottom of the 11th. With the second game in extra innings, both teams left the bases loaded in the 10th. The Bulldogs went down in order in the top off the 11th, with two strikeouts from Comet reliever Dylan Hugley. Leading off bottom of the 11th, Finn connected on a 2-2 pitch, blasting his third homer of the day, ending the game and securing the sweep.

Lewis & Clark used a six-run top of the seventh inning to blow open a 2-2 game and earn a season- opening 9-3 win over host Whittier College on Friday afternoon at Hugh Mendez Stadium. Lewis and Clark athletics photo by Seth Orensky

On a sunny, but cold day at MSI on Friday afternoon, Eastern started its 2024 campaign with a doubleheader sweep of Clarks Summit. John Beck started his senior season with a complete game gem, and the Eagles broke a 2-2 tie with three sixth-inning tallies to win the opener, 5-2. In game two, Sean Cottrell and Zackary Bollinger combined for a one-hit shutout and Eastern scored two runs in each the fourth, fifth, and sixth frames to shut out the Defenders 6-0. Beck (1-0), coming off an All-MAC Commonwealth Second Team selection last spring, pitched brilliantly in the opener. The Butler, N.J. native struck out six batters on less than 70 pitches while inducing six flyouts and eight groundouts. Beck showed excellent command on his pitches in less than ideal weather conditions, and allowed just two runs, both of which were unearned. In game two, Cottrell (1-0) was equally as effective, allowing just one hit, a single to right field in the first inning, while striking out three on 75 pitches. Bollinger pitched the final two innings, striking out two and not allowing a hit in a scoreless relief appearance.

• Like us on Facebook
• Follow D3baseball on Twitter
• Let's hear your opinions on the discussion boards

Pomona-Pitzer came away with an 8-7 win in their home opener over non-conference opponent Linfield on Friday afternoon at Alumni Field. The Sagehens were led by Nate Jakobs who went 3-4 with two RBI's and a home run. Tanner DeGrazia also went 3-4 with a run scored and an RBI while Kade Morihara, Matthew Nishimura, and Andrew An also had two-hit performances in the win. Jake Hilton got the start and his second win in as many starts after he went six innings giving up three runs with 11 strikeouts. Eamon Woods came in relief with two innings and gave up four runs while Eric Prough came on for the save.

Messiah started the 2024 season with a 4-3 victory over the Methodist Monarchs on Friday night. Taking advantage of 10 walks and a trio of hit-by-pitches, the Falcons scored their four runs on just five hits. Dylan Beard led Messiah offensively with a 2-4 effort at the dish, driving home a pair of runs with RBI singles in the third and seventh innings. Evan Wagaman also drove home a run in the game with a double just inside the bag at first in the opening frame. On the mound, Jason Long got the start and tossed five frames, allowing a pair of runs (one earned) on six hits and just one walk. Christian Foltz picked up the win, pitching three quality innings with one run crossing the plate on four hits. Noah Barrall twirled a perfect ninth inning to lock down the first victory of the season.

Virginia Wesleyan (2-1) defeated Emory on the road 7-6. Emory tied the game at 6-6 in the ninth. Micah Fox led off the inning for the Marlins with a single and Trevor Sheets came in to pinch run for Fox. Sheets advanced to second on a wild pitch, then Clarke reached first on an error by the catcher to put runners on the corners. Sheets scored on an error by the catcher to give the Marlins the 7-6 win. Fox went 3-for-4 at-bat with one home run, scored one run, and had two RBI, John Bastiaans went 2-for-4 at the plate with a homer, scored one run, and had two RBI, and Michael Burton Jr. was 2-for-5 at the plate and scored one run.

Howard Payne rallied to score one in the ninth inning and walked it off on a single off the bat of William Burford to pick up the 5-4 win over the Dallas Crusaders Friday at Don Shepard Park. Bryson Adare (1-0) got the win out of the bullpen for Howard Payne (2-1). The right-hander pitched 2.1 shutout innings, giving up one hit. Gary Blair started the ballgame and went six innings, surrendering four runs, one earned, on six hits, walking none and striking out three. Burford led the way offensively for the Yellow Jackets, going 3-for-5 in the ballgame with an RBI. Derek Gifford put together a noteworthy performance at the dish as well, going 1-for-3 with a walk and an RBI. Tanner Benson also helped out, going 2-for-4 for Howard Payne with a walk.

A trio of Mississippi University for Women players slugged home runs in the pivotal sixth inning to propel an 8-6 win in the 2024 season opener at Huntingdon College. Matthew Windham, Avery Benson, and Johnny Setchfield all slugged solo homers as the Owls (1-0) downed the Hawks (1-1) at Neal Posey Field. Five of MUW's eight hits were of the extra-base variety. In addition to the three bombs delivered by the veterans, newcomers Alex Telano and Baron Brack each had a doubles in their MUW debut.
By the end of the sixth-inning power surge, each of the runs would prove valuable, especially after the Owls had a 5-0 lead evaporate at the time. HC would chase starter Landon Clark, after giving up a pair of runs in the bottom of the sixth. Reliever Chris Ellis got two out, but was touched up for three runs before Jackson Gantt became the third MUW hurler of the frame, getting the elusive final out.