We Are The Champions

The Warriors baseball team became the 2022 NCAA Division III national champion on June 7 after defeating Salisbury University at Veterans Memorial Stadium in Cedar Rapids, IA. The Warriors concluded their historic season with an all-time best program record of 49-3 and taking home their fifth national title.

Ranked first in both final regular-season national polls but seeded second in the eight-team national tournament, Eastern won all five of its national tournament games. At 49-3, the Warriors equaled the second most wins and had the second-best winning percentage (.942) among national champions in the 46-year history of the Division III tournament. The team also tied Eastern’s program record of 23 consecutive victories.

The Warriors unseated defending champion Salisbury University this year by winning the first two games, 11-6 and 3-2, in a best-of-three championship series against the Sea Gulls. In 14 Little East Conference (LEC) and NCAA tournament games, Eastern won all five of its games by one run. Among the one-run victories were a walk-off win over Head Coach Brian Hamm’s alma mater, Middlebury College, in the Rochester, NY, Regional final and a dramatic 7-6, 13-inning home win over Rowan University in the Mansfield, CT, Super Regional.

The national team leader in earned run average (ERA), seven Eastern pitchers combined on a 3.00 ERA with 45 strikeouts in 45 innings at the national tournament. Junior Billy Oldham won both of his starts, pitching into the seventh inning of the championship win before graduate student Tommy Benincaso came on to earn the save after starting against and defeating LaGrange College earlier in the tournament.

Graduate student and first baseman Josh Tower was named national tournament MVP after sharing the team lead with all-tournament selection Jack Rich with a .474 batting average. In the 11-6 win over Salisbury, Tower tied the tournament record with five hits against Salisbury, driving in five runs and scoring three.

At the Nationals, Eastern committed only one error, with middle infielders Noah Plantamuro and Zach Donahue cleanly combining for six putouts and 25 assists. Senior centerfielder Ryan Bagdasarian, the MVP in the regional tournament and at the super regional, ended his career on a 23-game hitting streak after batting .286, while all-tournament selection Donahue ended with a 19-game streak after batting .333 at Cedar Rapids. Two-time All-America third baseman Luke Broadhurst ended on a 15-game streak after batting .263 at the nationals.

The team’s depth was evident in the fact that number-nine hitter Jason Claiborn — one of only two starters who were not seniors or graduate students — was third on the team at the Nationals behind only Rich and Tower with a .353 batting average, driving in six runs, scoring three and recording 10 putouts without an error in right field.

The Warriors set program records for wins (49) and winning percentage (.942) in claiming the title in only the third non- COVID season under fourth-year Head Coach Brian Hamm. “It’s something that we worked really, really hard for,” noted Hamm of the championship.

“We’re really proud to represent the University and get one for all of the people back home,” added Hamm, who, during the season, won his 100th game at Eastern and his 300th in 13 years as a college head coach.