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Eastlake, Ohio -- The first pitch that University of Lynchburg graduate student Wesley Arrington threw in the NCAA Tournament came in 2021 with Lynchburg trailing Birmingham-Southern 9-2. He was the fifth Hornet pitcher to throw in the game, and by the time he exited, the Panthers led 11-2. Arrington threw the last pitch of Lynchburg's season in that game as the Panthers eliminated the Hornets from their first NCAA Tournament since 2012.
Arrington also threw the final pitch of Lynchburg's season in 2023 when he struck out Johns Hopkins' Sam Frank and secured a 7-6 victory in the national championship.
The next pitch Arrington throws in the NCAA Tournament will come on Friday, May 31 from Eastlake, Ohio. Arrington will hope to already be pitching with a lead, but that's not necessarily likely as Lynchburg squares off with the No. 1 team in Division III in the Endicott Gulls. Endicott's starter, Jordan Gottesman, sports an 11-0 record, 104 strikeouts, and a 3.04 ERA in 80 innings. He's one of two All-Americans on the 46-2 Gulls' pitching staff.
But Lynchburg's band of arms is just as formidable, especially in the playoffs, and they go as Arrington goes. It's almost eerie.
Arrington posted a 5.83 ERA in the regular season. The team pitched at an 5.81 clip. Arrington in the playoffs is almost unhittable with a 0.83 ERA, 12 hits, and 27 Ks in 32 2/3 innings. The Hornets altogether are posting a 2.40 ERA in the playoffs.
Those unbelievable postseason numbers are a huge reason why the Hornets are 10-0 in the postseason with a conference championship under their belts and another trip to the NCAA championship secured, seeking a second consecutive crown. Lynchburg is 25-3 in the playoffs since last year including 658 postseason at-bats from the last two years on the roster. There's experience despite missing a few All-Americans from last year's championship team. That's where Quinn Madden comes in. The junior transfer was named a fourth-team All-American on Thursday night, in front of his peers at the championship's opening ceremony.
Experience isn't everything as the Hornets proved last season. The program made its debut in the championship in 2023 and won the whole thing. But this year, the Hornets are one of two teams with championship experience from the last two seasons. The only other school to make the championship in 2023 was Endicott, and they were eliminated after two games.
The top-eight teams remaining are all in Eastlake, Ohio this week. The path to a second straight NCAA title will not be easy. But the vibes are still high after the Hornets flew to Southern California and back with a super regional championship. They've seen the Pacific Ocean, and they've seen a Great Lake in less than a week. They're five or six wins away from securing another national championship.
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