Trojans play for the trophy on Saturday

Three teams down, one more to go. Last night, the Mount Olive College Trojans made history again, defeating Central Missouri and winning the right to play for the NCAA Division II College World Series National Championship on Saturday. Neither the Mount Olive Tribune (which has been updated, slightly) nor the Goldsboro News-Argus has the most recent news on their websites, so I went directly to the NCAA website to get the latest:

May 29, 2008
Mount Olive Advances to National Championship

SAUGET, ILL. - No. 1 ranked Mount Olive secured its spot in Saturday's national championship game with a 5-3 victory over No. 7 ranked Central Missouri Thursday afternoon in the semifinals of the NCAA Division II National Championships at GCS Ballpark.

The Trojans (57-6), who will be making their first national championship appearance, will face either No. 2 ranked Sonoma State or No. 4 ranked Ouachita Baptist on Saturday at 1 p.m. Central Missouri ends its season at 47-17.

The Trojans earned their spot in the title game by holding off the Mules who scored two unanswered runs between the seventh and eighth innings to trim a four-run deficit to just two. Central Missouri then put two runners on base in the bottom of the ninth with two outs before Patrick Ball entered the game to earn his third save of the season.

"They made things tight near the end of the game," said Mount Olive head coach Carl Lancaster. "But we were able to work our way out of it."

Central Missouri put the first run on the board in the bottom of the first inning, but a three-run third inning gave Mount Olive a lead it would not relinquish. The Trojans plated two more runs in the seventh inning before Central Missouri got a pair of runs for the final score.

Kyle Jones (4-0) recorded the win on the hill for the Trojans, making just his second start of the season and allowed only two runs on five hits. "Kyle was a work in progress," said Lancaster. "He has been out of baseball for three years, but he's got a good arm and he got us two wins at regionals. I thought he did well and we had to give him his shot."

Mark Carey (10-2) was credited with the loss for Central Missouri. The starter lasted four and one-third innings, giving up three runs on five hits, while also walking five.

Rich Racobaldo went 2-for-5 with two runs scored and two RBIs for Mount Olive, while Erik Lovett and Josh Harrison also recorded two hits each.

There it is. If the Trojans win on Saturday, the recently-named Dianne B. Riley Trophy Case will have an historic new piece to add to its collection.

Odd, isn't it, that they could be facing Ouachita Baptist again? After they dispatched Ouachita on Monday, that team apparently squeezed through a loser's playoff to stay alive, and they've kept at it through the week. If they make it all the way to Saturday, they'll come back with a score to settle, no doubt. If it's them, I hope our Trojans are ready.