"Cougars Advance to NAIA Great Lakes Region Tournament"

written by Dave Parsons, Assistant Sports Information Director

   For the first time since 1995, the Mount Vernon Nazarene College baseball team captured the Mid-Ohio Conference Tournament title to earn an automatic berth in the NAIA Great Lakes Region Tournament.

   The Cougars (33-8) are the defending region champions after winning the tournament for the first time in school history and advancing on to the NAIA World Series in 1997. Last year's squad was loaded with veteran talent with seven senior position players and two pitchers. This year's roster boasts just two seniors and has relied heavily on the contributions of the younger players to get the job done.

   MVNC is ranked #19 in the final NAIA national poll, which was released on Tuesday afternoon. The Cougars will open regional action against #24 Indiana Institute of Technology. The tournament is a double-elimination event without seeds. The first round pairings were drawn randomly. All first round games are scheduled to begin at 11:00 a.m. CST on Friday, May 11. Second round games are also scheduled for Friday at 3:00 p.m. CST.