Southeast Region Recap - Jan 30 - Feb 1

North Greenville vs. Alabama Huntsville, #2 Central Missouri, RV Rollins (3-0)

#5 North Greenville started the 2026 season with a bang, going 3-0 including wins over #2 Central Missouri and RV Rollins. The Crusaders outscored their opponents 37-11 over the three games. NGU got big weekends from newcomers CJ Dean and Jan Pospisil, as well as returner Josh Foulks, as the trio combined to go 18-35 with three doubles, two home runs, and 17 RBI. NGU used 15 pitchers on the weekend and limited its opponents to a .232 batting average while striking out 29 in 26 innings.

Catawba at Palm Beach Atlantic, Nova Southeastern, Lynn (3-0)

Like North Greenville, #6 Catawba also started the year with three impressive wins. The Indians took down Palm Beach Atlantic 8-2 on Friday, Nova Southeastern 4-1 in 10 innings on Saturday, and Lynn 7-5 on Sunday. Catawba will close out its Florida trip with a matchup at Barry on Monday. As we mentioned in Catawba’s Fall Report, the Indians were looking for Limestone transfers, Colt Wilkins and Kemper Nix, to step into impact roles on the mound and they sure delivered. Wilkins got the win over PBA with five innings of one-run ball to go along with eight punchouts, while Nix twirled five shutout innings against Nova Southeastern with four strikeouts. 

Wingate at Lynn, at Barry, at Nova Southeastern (2-1)

Like Catawba, Wingate started its year with a successful road trip to Florida, picking up wins over Lynn and Nova Southeastern, with a 13-12 loss to Barry sandwiched in between. ECU transfer, Neil Griffin, went 5-11 with a double and five RBI, while freshman Bowen Powell was 5-13 with a double, homer, and eight RBI. Powell also drew five walks to just one strikeout. On the mound, the Bulldogs got excellent starts from Chad Harvey and Connor Longley. Harvey, making the move from the closer role a season ago to the top rotation spot this year, got the win over Lynn after going five complete and allowing just three hits and an unearned run with six strikeouts. Longley made his collegiate debut a memorable one, also going five innings with just one earned run allowed and picking up the win over Nova Southeastern.

Quick Hitters

• Three Peach Belt schools with new head coaches got off to hot starts, as Lander and HC Nick Popp picked up a doubleheader sweep over Erskine. USC Aiken and HC Keith Gorman went 2-0 against Mars Hill, including a 91-pitch no-hitter from freshman Ben Shepherd in his collegiate debut. North Georgia and HC Nolan Belcher completed a three-game road sweep of Embry-Riddle.

• #25 Young Harris dropped the season opener to Auburn Montgomery but scored a combined 33 runs in games 2 and 3 to pick up a series win on the road to open the year. Newcomer Sydney Ward was 6-12 with a homer and six RBI, while Keypher Contreras, another newcomer, went 5-13 with a pair of home runs and five RBI.

• RV Francis Marion picked up a two-game sweep of Concord to open the year. Georgia Southwestern transfer, Matthew Manuel, went 5-7 in the doubleheader with two doubles and three RBI, while the Patriots pitching staff struck out 16 batters and allowed just 12 hits in the doubleheader.