College Sports Information Directors of America

MOUNT OLIVE, N.C. – “NCAA On Campus,” which airs on ESPN Classic and ESPNU, is coming to Mount Olive College Wednesday, April 23. The show plans to run a segment on the Trojan baseball team, which has been ranked No. 1 in the nation in six of the last seven weeks. Along with including interviews with members of the baseball team and taping highlights of the Trojans’ baseball doubleheader that day against Chowan, the show will also feature interviews with student-athletes from other sports, as well as spotlight the Mount Olive College campus.

Series co-host Melissa Knowles will cover the segment for NCAA On Campus.

The show is produced by DL Images, which is based in Indianapolis, Ind., home of the NCAA. Producer Lee Nassau came up with the idea to do a feature on the Mount Olive baseball team after reading about an unusual accomplishment.

“I read about Mount Olive on the CoSIDA (College Sports Information Directors of America) web site, how all nine starters in the batting lineup were ranked among NCAA DII statistical leaders,” said Nassau. “That was enough of a unique story for us. And then we had the pleasant surprise of finding out the team has been ranked No. 1 for several weeks.”

In the April 1 NCAA Division II Baseball Statistics Report, every player in the Trojan starting batting order – David Cooper, Jesse Lancaster, Erik Lovett, Jason Sherrer, Alex Vertcnik, Rich Racobaldo, Dylan Holton, Josh Harrison, Anthony Williams – was nationally ranked in at least one statistical category. In addition, Trojan pitchers Ryan Schlecht, Michael Williams and Casey Hodges have been among the national pitching leaders.

The CoSIDA web site featured a question if any other school has had its entire batting lineup ranked among the national statistical leaders. To date, there has been no response, meaning Mount Olive is likely the first to accomplish the feat.

NCAA On Campus premiered in 2002. Nassau says one of the purposes of the program is to feature sports and schools that generally are not in the national spotlight.

“The public’s usual perception of an NCAA student-athlete is of the ‘superstars,’ usually in Division I, and usually playing football and basketball,” said Nassau. “NCAA On Campus seeks to profile the other students-athletes: the thousands of both male and females in Divisions I, II and III; the gymnasts, the cross country runners, the volleyball players, rowers and baseball players, most of whom will, as the NCAA PSA’s declare, ‘go pro in something other than sports.’”

Along with the segment on the baseball team and interviews with other student-athletes, the show includes a feature called “Ask Myles.” A Trojan student-athlete will get a chance to direct a question to NCAA President Dr. Myles Brand, who will answer the question on the show.

The visit by NCAA On Campus marks the second national television appearance this year for Mount Olive. The Trojans’ men’s basketball game at Barton on March 1 was nationally televised by CBS College Sports and FSN South.

The episode will debut on ESPN Classic Wednesday, May 21, at 12:30 p.m. (Eastern). The show will also be rebroadcast on ESPNU, air dates to be announced.