ATLANTA – After a hard-fought season, the Oglethorpe Stormy Petrels are set to enter the Southern Athletic Association championship tournament as the No. 8 Seed.

Tournament Information

• Oglethorpe will play a three-game series at the tournament's top seed Birmingham Southern. Birmingham Southern spent six weeks at No. 1 in the NCAA Division III national poll and currently ranks No. 7.
• Game one of the series is set for Friday, April 28, at 6 p.m. ET. Saturday will feature a doubleheader beginning at 2 p.m. ET; the second game of the doubleheader will only be played if teams split the first two games of the series.
• The winner of the series will join the three other series winners in advancing to the final stage of the tournament, set for Friday-Sunday, May 5-7.
• The Petrels recorded a 2-1 victory over Birmingham Southern earlier this month, but ultimately dropped the series.

Season Review

• Oglethorpe has the No. 1 strength of schedule in NCAA Division III, with 25 of its 40 games against teams in the top 51 for Iterative Strength Rating.
• Thirteen of Oglethorpe's games have been played against a team currently inside or near the national top-25.
• Oglethorpe recorded a combined no-hitter in their first SAA win of the season, a 7-0 victory against Hendrix in March. Hendrix is currently in the receiving votes category of the top-25.
• The Petrels followed that win by taking their first series against Wittenberg in mid-March.  

Individual Highlights

• Jonathan Cruz holds the team's highest batting average at .340, and is ranked 19th in the SAA. He recorded 53 hits, 23 RBIs, 20 runs, and two home runs.
• Catcher Greg Johnson holds a .329 batting average, ranking 24th in the conference.
• Pitcher Colin Stewart is ranked 10th in the SAA with a 4.50 ERA, 32 strikeouts, and only issued 11 walks.
• Carson Weir is ranked 49th in the SAA with a .295 batting average. He recorded 43 hits, 25 runs, 19 RBI's, eight doubles, and five home runs.
• Pitcher Zach Turner is ranked 17th in the SAA with 34 strikeouts.

Multimedia

CHAMPIONSHIP weekend! ????

Baseball, men's and women's golf, men's and women's tennis, and men's and women's track & field all in SAA championships this weekend. ??????#StayStormy | #GoPetrels pic.twitter.com/UfANaedm9j

— Oglethorpe Athletics (@GoPetrels) April 27, 2023