(ROCKY MOUNT, NC) - The 2023 USA South Baseball Tournament has come to an end on the campus of N.C. Wesleyan University as the host, and top-seeded, Battling Bishops claimed their first tournament title since 2009 with an 8-4 victory over third-seeded William Peace in the second game of the best-of-three championship series. N.C. Wesleyan had defeated William Peace, 9-2, the night before to take a one-game series lead.

Through the first four full innings, both starting pitchers, N.C. Wesleyan's Hunter Hill and William Peace's Jack McIntosh, kept the offenses at bay by not allowing a run. N.C. Wesleyan would strike first in the fifth inning on a Zach Lyon single to center which scored Jean Lagreca. William Peace would take the lead with two runs in the sixth inning as Nick Tyler scored on a wild pitch and Patrick Rogan singled in a run. The score would remain a 2-1 Pacer advantage until the Battling Bishops sent 13 batters to the plate and scored eight runs in the eighth inning. Lyon was 2-for-2 in the frame, scoring once with two RBI. William Peace would muster one last comeback attempt, loading the bases in the ninth inning after scoring two runs with the tying run at the plate but it was not to be as N.C. Wesleyan hung on. 

N.C. Wesleyan was led offensively by Lyon who was 3-for-5 with a game-high three RBI and one run scored. Drifton Padgett contributed three hits as well for the Battling Bishops with two runs scored and two RBI while Jackson Hobbs added two hits and a run scored of his own. For William Peace, Rogan, Nick Tyler, and Sean Roseborough each had a multi-hit game. 

Please visit the Tournament Website for further information, including the Tournament Bracket.

All-Tournament Team
1B-Brett Kemp, William Peace
2B-Jake Dacunto, William Peace
SS-Austin Wood, Pfeiffer
3B-Colin Scoggins, N.C. Wesleyan
C-Sean Roseborough, William Peace
DH/UTL-Alex Moskal, N.C. Wesleyan
OF-Zach Lyon, N.C. Wesleyan
OF-Drifton Padgett, N.C. Wesleyan
OF-Nick Tyler, William Peace
P-Payne Stolsworth, N.C. Wesleyan (MVP)
P-Jacob Thompson, Brevard