For the second consecutive year, the Profs are headed to the Division III Baseball Championship after sweeping Randolph-Macon, 11-7, and, 9-5, Friday in a Glassboro Super Regional doubleheader. Rowan had their second dogpile in the month of May on Friday, having previously won the New Jersey Athletic Conference (NJAC) title and now moving on to the grandest of stages.

With Game 2 in a, 4-4, stalemate, junior second baseman Joey Bogart crushed his first home run in 797 days and the third of his career. This wasn’t just any home run, it was a go ahead grand slam in the top of the ninth inning.

“I kind of blacked out when I hit first base,” Bogart said. “So I don’t really remember running the bases.” 

Bogart is quite familiar with clutch hits in the Super Regional, especially since his go ahead run and 2 RBI double secured the Profs a vital game one victory in last year’s NCAA Super Regional at Lynchburg. This time around, Bogart found a way to top that moment. 

“I love coming up in that spot and being able to put us up like that,” Bogart said. 

Rowan ace Austin Kreyenhagen kept his ballclub afloat as the Yellow Jackets were fighting for their season in Game 2. The sophomore put together his second complete game of the spring, allowing five runs on 114 pitches, and recording the final out in the best-of-three series. 

“He’s been fantastic since he has stepped foot on this campus,” Dickson said. “Low heartbeat guy which [means] he doesn’t get rattled in the big moments.”

The Yellow Jackets, a team that was once 14-11 during the season, showed their worth throughout the day as the Profs were stung more than ever before. Both games were absolute nail biters, with Randolph-Macon senior Logan Duff leading the way by going 5-for-6 across the doubleheader. 

“I don’t need the scoreboard to tell me how great my kids are,” Randolph-Macon head coach Ray Hedrick said. “I definitely have a bunch of winners that are going to be riding back to Ashland, [Virginia], tomorrow.”

In the series opener, Rowan tied a season-high four errors and the Yellow Jackets made sure to capitalize on every single one. 

“They’re a team that’s kind of pesky, they like to put balls in play,” Dickson said.  “Most of the reason why they were in that game was because of the errors we had made.”

Game 1 was knotted up at, 7-7, in the top of the seventh inning, but three home runs from Ian Murphy, Nick Struble, and Brayden Davis in the eighth helped the Profs overcome those defensive mishaps. Davis continues his unbelievable NCAA tournament form, hitting home runs in four of five games, and accumulating 19 RBIs between the Regional and Super Regional rounds. 

“I do it for my team,” Davis said. “We do whatever we can to win, and that’s all that matters.”

The unfavorable weather was no secret in Glassboro, with a game being moved from Saturday to Friday to ensure at least two games were played. It’s safe to say Dickson and company weren’t fazed by playing in cloudy skies for nine more innings than expected.

“So what… now what… is what I tell the guys all the time,” Dickson said. “If we got to play on the Walt Whitman Bridge or Brooklyn Bridge, [we’ll] go out and play on the Brooklyn Bridge.”

The Profs are riding a 14 game winning streak as they prepare for another trip to Eastlake, Ohio, on May 29 when the College World Series begins.

“Going into this year, nobody on the outside believed… but the guys inside, they believed,” Rowan head coach Mike Dickson said. “To do it here at home was outstanding in front of our crowd.”

Rowan is looking to surpass their third place finish a year ago, and hopes to bring home their first national championship since winning back-to-back in 1978 and 1979. 

“We got to go out and have fun,” Dickson said. “If you play the same way all the time, then the opponent doesn’t matter.”