Phil Sedalis hit three home runs during No. 15 Rowan baseball’s (34-10) 20-4 win over Catholic (29-18) in the NCAA Regional Final on Sunday, May 18. The Prof’s went undefeated in the entire tournament, hosted at Mount Union University, and are headed back to the Super Regionals for the first time in two years.

“It hasn’t set in yet, but these guys did a heck of a job,” Head coach Mike Dickson said. “For us to put up those offensive numbers was awesome. They have a heck of a lineup over at Catholic.”

Sedalis, who has a team-high 16 home runs after his Sunday afternoon performance, went yard in the second, fourth, and seventh innings to tack on seven RBIs and lead him to be named MVP of the Regional tournament. He was one shy of the program record of four, set by Jim McAllister against Delaware State in 1989. Sedalis’ performance helped Rowan secure their ticket to the Super Regionals for the first time since the 2023 season.

“I don’t like to put more pressure on myself or any of the players,” Sedalis said. “My job is to get guys over, get those big two out hits, and get as many runs as we can in.”

A now three-game win streak has seen Rowan go on an offensive tear over their past two games, both of which were against the Cardinals. They’ve scored 46 runs in the past two days against Catholic and have beat all their opponents in the Regional tournament by a whopping 55-14 margin.

“I thought we had a really good game plan going into this game,” Dickson said. “To our guy’s credit, they battled against every guy [Catholic pitcher] they threw at us.”

The rematch between the two team’s started off exactly like their first game on Saturday, May 18, as Catholic struck first with an RBI single from Sammy Burman to put Rowan in a quick one run deficit.

Unfortunately for the Cardinals, Rowan’s hot offense showed no signs of fatigue from their game the day prior. The Profs scored in every inning to give ace Zach Coluccio a sizable cushion on the bump heading into his first start of the regional tournament. 

After giving up the run in the first inning, Coluccio would go six shutout innings before giving up a home run to Jack Bateman in the top of the seventh. Coluccio would end up going 7.1 innings and allow just two runs while striking out seven in his first career Regional Final win.

“I gave up a run in the first inning, but I just needed to settle in and trust my guys to back me up,” Coluccio said. “I know if they’re gonna put up 20 a game, I have a lot less pressure on me as a pitcher.”

The Profs would continue to pack on the runs throughout the contest, including a pair of RBI triples. Brayden Davis would clear the bases in the fourth to put Rowan up 11-1, while Chris Serrano added a triple of his own in the sixth to give the profs a 14-1 lead. 

Rowan scored their most runs in the seventh with six and the Cardinals would tack on two in the ninth, but Catholics’ late game heroics weren’t enough to even scratch the surface of the Profs 16-run victory margin.

The team will now travel to Lynchburg, Virginia, this weekend to face the No. 5 Lynchburg Hornets on May 23-24. The Hornets advanced to the Super Regionals after defeating Emory 6-5 in their Regional Final game. Lynchburg has a 41-7 record this season and a perfect 23-0 record at home. They stand as the sole force in the way of a Rowan team hoping to make their first College World Series appearance since 2021.

For now, Dickson just plans on enjoying his fourth regional title with the Profs since his head coaching tenure began. Once their bus arrives back in Glassboro, he says their preparation for the difficult road aheads will begin.

“Lynchburg is a great team,” Dickson said. “It’s not everyday you win a regional. We can celebrate now, we have a long bus ride home, and then on to Lynchburg.”

For comments/questions about this story DM us on Instagram @thewhitatrowan or email [email protected]