APPLETON, Wis. -- The Lawrence University baseball team will make the short drive west on Highway 10 to open the 2022 NCAA Division III Tournament.
    Lawrence was assigned to a four-team regional at UW-Stevens Point and will face the host Pointers in the opening game. North Central (Ill.) College faces Coe College in the other opening game at the regional, which will be played at Zimmerman Field.
    The regional begins with Lawrence's game at 10 a.m. Friday and the double-elimination tournament runs through Sunday. The 16 regional winners advance to a super regional, which features two teams in a three-game series. The eight super regional winners advance to the the finals at Perfect Game Field at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, Iowa. The finals run from June 3-7. 
    Lawrence (26-11) earned its place in the NCAA Tournament by claiming the automatic bid from the Midwest Conference. The Vikings won the league's regular season title, its first since 1980, with an 18-6 record and earned the top seed in the Midwest Conference Tournament. Lawrence won all three of its games in the league tournament, including a 7-6 victory over the University of Chicago in the championship game.
    This is Lawrence's third trip to the NCAA Tournament and its first since 1979. The Vikings played in the NCAA regional at UW-Oshkosh in both 1977 and 1979.
    Lawrence has enjoyed a record-setting season under fourth-year head coach Chris Krepline. The 26 victories in the most for a Lawrence team, and multiple Vikings have broken school records this season.
    Senior outfielder Jacob Charon leads the team with a .412 batting average to go with seven doubles, one triple, a school-record 19 home runs and a school-record 59 runs batted in. Rookie outfielder Parker Knoll has hit in the first spot in the order all season and owns a .406 batting average. Knoll has a school-record 63 hits, 12 doubles, four triples, two homers, a school-record 52 runs scored and 26 runs batted in.  
    Sophomore Quinn Berglin and junior Michael Duttlinger have anchored the starting pitching staff. Berglin is 6-1 with a 1.39 earned run average, two shutouts, 51 strikeouts and 29 walks. Duttlinger is 4-1 with a 3.66 ERA and also has two shutouts. He has struck out 30 and walked 13. Rookies Richie LaCien and Nathaniel Johannes have been stalwarts out of the bullpen. LaCien has posted a school-record six saves while compiling a 4.91 ERA, and Johannes is 2-0 with a 2.86 ERA.
    UW-Stevens Point (34-7) won the Wisconsin Intercollegiate Athletic Conference Tournament to claim its spot in the NCAA field. The Pointers, who defeated UW-Oshkosh 10-0 to win the WIAC Tournament, enter the NCAA Tournament having won 10 of their last 11. North Central (33-12) received an at-large berth to the NCAA field after dropping a 10-9, 14-inning decision to Augustana (Ill.) College in the title game of the College Conference of Illinois and Wisconsin Tournament. Coe College (21-19) grabbed the automatic bid from the American Rivers Conference after defeating Wartburg College 10-6 in the league tournament title game.