College World Series action got underway for No. 7 seed Rowan baseball on Friday, May 30, as the Profs took on No. 2 seed Denison in their first game of the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.

The Profs lost to Denison in the 2024 Regionals and looked to get revenge in their third matchup in the past two years. Unfortunately, the team would suffer the same fate as before, losing to the Big Red 12-5 to give them their first loss of the double-elimination first round.

“They’ve [Denison] made a commitment to be good, and they got good a couple years ago, and they’ve been good since then,” Head coach Mike Dickson said. “So all my credit goes to them and we battled today. But offensively, they were a little bit better.”

Nick Falter for Denison made his third NCAA tournament start. The senior has had a historic season, dishing a school-record 104 strikeouts. He’s also been accurate, walking only 20 batters in 2025.

On the Prof’s side, Mike Shannon took the mound. He was on the 2021 Rowan team that went to the College World Series, but never pitched. In his debut, he looked to continue upon the dominant run he’s had in the NCAA thus far. Shannon only allowed four runs in 15 IP over his two starts, including 13 strikeouts.

The Big Red scored one run in the first as Falter shut down the Profs hitters to open this contest. He retired the first five Profs batters he faced, but Brayden Davis would crack open the scoring for Rowan with a deep home run onto the pavement above the left field grass to tie things up 1-1.

The Profs were able to get Falter into a jam in the second and it appeared as if their offense was beginning to light their own fire. That spark wouldn’t last for long as Denison’s cleanup hitter Jack Rollo quickly blew it out. His three-run shot to right field in the third put a dagger into Rowan’s momentum to give the Big Red the lead once again 6-3. 

Prior to the home run, Rowan held a 3-2 lead courtesy of a 2 RBI single from Jason Morgan with the bases loaded. Morgan would see the bases loaded two more times in this contest but to no avail for the Profs. Rowan left 11 runners on base as they failed to respond to Denison for the rest of the game. They were able to put together a three-run rally in the ninth down 12-7, but the outburst proved to occur too late.

“We came up a little short today, but proud of my guys for not giving up,” Morgan said. “We could have let that game go early but kept fighting and kept crawling out way back. We just had a few little mistakes we need to clean up.”

Shannon’s dominance from Regionals and Super Regionals was no match for Denison’s powerful lineup. The Big Red saw his pitches well the entire game, as Shannon went just three innings and gave up seven earned runs on just 10 hits. Dickson was forced to go to Steven Maiers early, but he didn’t fare much better. Maiers gave up four earned runs in his three innings of work.

“Unfortunately, Mike [Shannon] wasn’t himself today and didn’t locate as well as he has in the past,” Dickson said. “And they [Denison] took advantage of it.”

Two bright spots for Rowan’s bullpen shined through Austin Kreyenhagen and Jack Norton. Both pitched an inning, respectively and retired a combined six straight hitters in their first NCAA action since the Regional round. Kreyenhagen struck out two and Norton one.

“They located a couple of different pitches for strikes. Obviously, that’s a tough Denison lineup over there. You know, the difference is being able to locate your pitches,” Dickson said.

The Profs loss moves them to the elimination bracket where they will face No. 6 seeded Trinity (Texas). The game is set to begin on Sunday, June 1 at 10 a.m.

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