Baseball | 5/13/2015 11:05:00 AM

VIDEO: Tourney Preview with coach Jeff Gregory
VIDEO: Tourney Preview with senior Thomas Spitz
VIDEO: Tourney Preview with senior Josh Clark
Live Audio (Wingate radio broadcast)
Live Video
Live Stats
Tournament Central
Region Bracket
Finch Field

Thomasville, N.C.----The Wingate University Bulldogs play their first NCAA Tournament game since 2011 Thursday afternoon, facing Mount Olive at Finch Field at 3 p.m. The Bulldogs and Trojans also met in the opener in Wingate's last NCAA Tournament appearance in 2011. The six-team, double-elimination NCAA Southeast Region Tournament will take place Thursday through Sunday at Finch Field. The 'Dogs enter postseason play at 32-24 overall.

The Bulldogs are one of three teams in the regional that earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament. The top three teams in the regional won regular season conference titles, while teams four through six won the tournament titles. One of the toughest regions in the nation, teams that did not make the field include 12th-ranked UNC Pembroke, along with Columbus State and Flagler, who are receiving votes in the latest NCBWA top 25. Top-seeded and fifth-ranked Catawba will serve as the host school in this week's tournament.

The Bulldogs earned a spot in the regional thanks to a remarkable run through the SAC Tournament. Wingate finished fifth in the regular season, putting them in a single-elimination game on day one of the SAC Tournament. The 'Dogs rolled to a 17-9 win to advance to the double-elimination round, but dropped Friday's contest against Newberry. Wingate responded with a 17-3 win over Anderson Saturday to advance to Sunday. The 'Dogs would need four wins the final two days of the tournament against the top three teams in the league.

The Bulldogs staved off elimination for the third time in the tournament with a 5-3 win over Newberry. Wingate trailed 3-2 in the eighth, but freshman Bradley Brown (Rockingham, N.C.) connected on a two-out, two-run homer to put Wingate on top. Senior catcher Josh Clark (Clemmons, N.C.) followed with a solo shot to make it 5-3. The 'Dogs returned to the field later that night to face Tusculum. The back-and-forth contest saw the Pioneers take a 7-5 lead in the seventh. The Bulldogs tied it in the eighth on a two-run homer from sophomore Colby Barnette (Monroe, N.C.). An RBI double from freshman Shane Billings (Kernersville, N.C.) put Wingate on top. Tusculum tied it in the eighth, but Clark's RBI single in the ninth sparked a four-run rally to give the 'Dogs a 12-8 victory.

Wingate needed two wins over top-seeded Catawba on Monday to win the title. The Indians led the first game 2-0 in the fourth, but homers from Thomas Spitz (West Chester, Pa.) and Barnette gave the Bulldogs a one-run edge. A four-run seventh was highlighted by a three-run double from senior Michael Godinez (Cutler Bay, Fla.), giving the 'Dogs a five-run lead. Spitz added another homer in the ninth to make it 8-2. Catawba led 4-0 in the second inning of game two, but Clark's solo shot in the bottom of the second, followed by a Spitz RBI double and Brown two-run double in the third gave Wingate the lead. Billings added an RBI single in the fourth and RBI double in the sixth, while a Spitz RBI single later in the frame was followed by Brown's two-run blast to give Wingate a 10-4 lead. Spitz added an RBI double in the eighth for the Bulldogs.

Wingate piled up 70 runs in the five days, posting a 6-1 record. The Bulldogs led the tournament in runs scored, while also posting a tournament-best .357 average, 14 homers and 22 doubles. The Bulldogs pounded out a tournament-high 95 hits in seven games. Wingate went 6-0 in elimination games, eliminating five teams in the eight-team tournament.

Offense has led the way all season for the Bulldogs. Wingate leads the nation with 86 homers, ranking second in runs scored, third in hits, sixth in doubles and 18th in slugging percentage. The Bulldogs have scored 10 or more runs 22 times in 56 games, going 21-1 in those contests.

Spitz leads Wingate's potent offense. The senior is piling up the awards, earning first team All-SAC and All-Region honors, while also being named the SAC Tournament MVP. He is one of 30 semi-finalists for the Tino Martinez Award. Spitz leads the nation with 80 runs scored, ranking sixth with 76 RBI and 165 total bases, 11th with 87 hits and 12th with 17 homers. He is hitting .387 on the year, with a .733 slugging percentage and .478 on-base percentage. He is the only player in the nation with at least 17 homers and 20 or more stolen bases. Spitz also has 19 doubles and four triples on the season. He ranks in the top 10 in SAC history in career triples, hits and runs scored.  

Billings is also piling up the accolades in his second year at Wingate. He earned first team All-SAC and All-Region honors, while also earning a spot on the All-SAC Tournament Team. The sophomore leads the nation with 100 hits, ranking second with 79 runs scored and 11th with 150 total bases. He also ranks 16th nationally with 26 stolen bases in 27 attempts. Billings is hitting a team-best .412 on the year, with 10 homers, 16 doubles, two triples and 43 RBI.

Brown was named the SAC Freshman of the Year, earning second team All-SAC honors to go along with honorable mention All-Region accolades. He ranks ninth nationally with 22 doubles and 12th with 68 RBI. Brown is hitting .341 with 10 homers on the year, scoring 39 runs while posting a .595 slugging percentage and .423 on-base percentage. Barnette earned honorable mention all-conference honors. The UNC transfer is hitting .292 in his first year at Wingate, with 13 homers, 13 doubles and 55 RBI.

Clark is hitting .320 as a senior, with nine homers, 14 doubles and 54 RBI. Barnette and Clark rank sixth and seventh in the SAC in RBI. Godinez is hitting .297 with a career-best seven homers to go along with 33 RBI. Junior Bill Krebs (West Chester, Pa.) has nine homers and 13 doubles with his .289 average, while senior Brad Cherry (Mt. Pleasant, S.C.) hits .280 with 30 RBI. Classmate Blake Prince (Winter Park, Fla.) has five homers to go along with 15 doubles on the year.

Wingate's starting rotation is anchored by senior right-hander Brett Morgan (Clemmons, N.C.). He is 7-3 in his 14 starts, collecting 49 strikeouts in a team-best 71 innings of work. Morgan won two games in the SAC Tournament, going 12 2/3 innings, allowing five runs on just six hits. Redshirt freshman Hunter Hamilton (Troy, N.C.) is 3-2 with a 3.97 ERA in 59 innings of work. He tossed a complete game against Anderson in the SAC Tournament. Redshirt freshman right-hander Jimmy Doolittle (Charlotte, N.C.) has 15 appearances and 13 starts, piling up a team-best 61 strikeouts in 60 2/3 innings.

Junior right-hander Tyler Brown (Suffolk, Va.) has 20 appearances this year, including 18 games out of the Wingate bullpen. He is 8-4 with a 3.44 ERA, adding three saves in 65 1/3 innings, holding opponents to a .209 batting average. Brown went 2-0 in the SAC Tournament. Sophomore right-hander Cameron Price (Indian Trail, N.C.) has a pair of saves and a win for the Bulldogs in a team-high 21 appearances.

Wingate and Mount Olive met earlier this season, with the Trojans winning a pair of games in a mid-week doubleheader. The Trojans erased an 8-5 deficit in game one, prevailing 9-8 despite two RBI from Bradley Brown, along with Spitz and Godinez scoring three times each. Brown and Prince had two RBI each in the 8-6 setback in game two, which was stopped after five innings due to rain.

Day one of the 2015 NCAA Southeast Regional gets started at 11 a.m. in Thomasville, with third-seeded North Georgia taking on fourth-seeded Georgia College. Wingate and Mount Olive play at 3 p.m. Day one wraps up at 7 p.m. with top-seeded Catawba taking on number six seed North Greenville. The winner of the Wingate vs. Mount Olive game will face the winner of the North Georgia-Georgia College game Friday at 7 p.m. The loser of the Wingate vs. Mount Olive contest takes on the loser of the Catawba-North Greenville game Friday at 11 a.m.

2015 NCAA Southeast Region Schedule (Finch Field, Thomasville, N.C.)

Thursday, May 14
11 a.m. - Game 1: #4 Georgia College vs. #3 North Georgia
3 p.m. - Game 2: #5 Wingate vs. #2 Mount Olive
7 p.m. - Game 3: #6 North Greenville vs. #1 Catawba
Friday, May 15
11 a.m. - Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser
3 p.m .- Game 5: Game 3 Loser vs. Game 1 Winner
7 p.m. - Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner
Saturday, May 16
11 a.m. - Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner 
3 p.m. - Game 8: Game 6 Loser vs. Game 4 Winner
7 p.m. - Game 9: Game 7 Loser vs. Game 8 Winner
Sunday, May 17
1 p.m. - Game 10: Championship
5 p.m. - Game 11: Championship Game 2 (if needed)