Lexington, Ky. - The Transylvania baseball team begins the 2021 Heartland Collegiate Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament with a first-round series against the Defiance College Yellow Jackets on Friday-Saturday, May 14-15 at Legends Ballpark.

Transylvania completed its run to a regular season championship last Saturday, producing a conference-best record of 26-10 to capture the No. 1 seed and hosting rights in this year's expanded multi-round conference tournament held over the next two weekends.

The first weekend of the HCAC Tournament consists of a best-of-3 miniseries between the conference's 10 teams with the top seed hosting the bottom seed in inverse order. The No. 1 seed Pioneers will host the No. 10 Yellow Jackets (6-31 HCAC) in game one of the mini-series on Friday at 6:00 p.m.

Game two will be played at 1:00 p.m. on Saturday and an "if necessary" game would immediately follow game two.  

The winner advances to a five-team double-elimination tournament beginning the following Thursday, May 20, held at the site of the highest-seeded remaining team in the tournament. The Pioneers would host the double-elimination tournament by winning the mini-series.

Competing with the other nine HCAC schools in a conference-only format regular season for the 2021 campaign, the Pioneers won their first regular-season title in over a decade under fifth-year head coach Zack Getsee. Transylvania's 26 wins are its most since the 2008 season.

The Pioneers have furnished another offensive juggernaut throughout the order, led by senior Hudson Chastain. The 2019 All-HCAC First Team selection is pacing towards breaking the Pioneer program record for hits for the second straight full NCAA season and currently ranks second in all of Division III baseball in hits with 67 total. Chastain tops the conference in batting average with a .444 BA, a mark which ranks 51^st in the country nationally.

Senior Riley Willbur leads the Pioneers in runs batted in with 40, a total which ranks fifth in the HCAC. Willbur leads the team in slugging percentage at .566, total bases with 82, and ranks third in the HCAC in runs scored with 47, and ranks fifth in the conference in walks with 27. Willbur has a team-high seven home runs this year, tied for seventh in conference.

Freshman Trent Youngblood has made an immediate splash in his collegiate debut season, ranking second on the Pioneers and fourth in the HCAC in hits with 55. The Louisville native is tied with Willbur for the team lead in doubles with 10 and leads the team in triples with three this season. Youngblood leads the team with 12 stolen bases this season and is second on the Pioneers in walks with 21.

Seniors Jake Schmidt and Evan Hall have led a 1-2 punch on the mound for the Pioneers this season. Schmidt carries a commanding 7-0 win loss record into the postseason with a 2.62 ERA. The Dublin, Ohio native leads the league in strikeouts with 77 on the year and is second in the HCAC in ERA. Hall is 5-2 this season in nine starts and has recorded 44 strikeouts this season.

Transylvania is 4-0 against Defiance this season, winning at Defiance, 8-4 and 9-4 in a March 14 doubleheader, and again in Lexington on April 18 with a pair of 7-5 and 14-2 victories.

Transylvania University is permitting visiting spectators for the 2021 HCAC Baseball Tournament up to 40 percent of capacity. Admission is $8 per person per day. Children ages 11 and under are admitted for free. Any HCAC affiliated student, staff, or faculty member will be permitted free with their institution ID. Additional spectator policies for attending this weekend's baseball tournament games can be found online at the Transylvania Athletics COVID-19 Athletic Information website.

All games in this week's HCAC Tournament mini-series will be broadcast live on the Transy Sports Network. Fans can also access live stats for the series via TransySports.com.

For more on Transylvania baseball, follow @TransyBaseball on Twitter