STANDISH, ME – The 2011 NCAA DIII Baseball New England Regional Tournament seedings have been released and Saint Joseph's College (30-13, 12-2 GNAC) has been selected as the sixth seed.
With the #6 slot the Monks will face #3 Wheaton College (29-10, 13-5 NEWMAC) in the opening round of the tourney at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, MA on Wednesday at 4:30 PM.
Saint Joseph's defeated Suffolk University, 8-6, in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Championship at Larry Mahaney Diamond on May 1st to earn a berth into the NCAA Tournament for the fifth time in program history. All five appearances have come in the last six years.
Wheaton topped MIT (25-13, 12-6 NEWMAC), 4-3, in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Championship on April 30th to claim the NEWMAC automatic qualifier into the NCAA tourney. The Lyons have appeared in the national tournament in 10 of the last 11 seasons and advanced all the way to the NCAA DIII World Series championship game in 2006 after winning the New England Regional Tournament that spring.
The teams met earlier this season when the Lyons defeated the Monks by a 6-1 margin in Auburndale, FL in a game played over spring break. St. Joe's defeated Wheaton, 9-7, in an elimination game of the 2010 New England Regional tourney. Overall, Saint Joseph's is 1-4 in the history of the matchup with Wheaton College.
2011 NCAA DIII New England Regional Seedings
1. Tufts (26-7-1, 11-1 NESCAC)^
2. Western New England (38-9, 20-2 TCCC)^
3. Wheaton (Mass.) (29-10, 13-5 NEWMAC)^
4. MIT (25-13, 12-6 NEWMAC)*
5. Rhode Island College (21-18, 6-8 LEC)^
6. St. Joseph's (Maine) (30-13, 12-2 GNAC)^
7. Husson (29-15, 12-4 NAC)^
8. Bridgewater State (23-15, 9-5 MASCAC)^
^ Automatic qualifier, won conference tournament
* At-large berth
Game Schedule (weather permitting):
Wednesday, May 18
Game 1: No. 4 MIT vs. No. 5 Rhode Island College, 9:30 a.m.
Game 2: No. 1 Tufts vs. No. 8 Bridgewater State, 1:00 p.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Wheaton vs. No. 6 St. Joseph's (Maine), 4:30 p.m.
Game 4: Western New England vs. Husson, 8:00 p.m.
Thursday, May 19
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9:30 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:00 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4:30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 8:00 p.m.
Friday, May 20
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 9:30 a.m.
Game 10: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 5, 1:00 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 4:30 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 10 vs. Winner Game 9, 8:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 21
Game 13: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11, Noon
Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 22
Game 15: Winner Game 14 vs. Loser Game 14, Noon (if necessary)
NCAA Release:
INDIANAPOLIS -- The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 55 teams that will compete in the 2011 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.
Six teams will compete at four regional sites; seven teams will compete at one regional site; eight teams will compete at three regional sites. All regionals will use a double-elimination format. Thirty-eight conference champions qualified automatically.
Winners of the eight regional tournaments will qualify for the double-elimination championship at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin, May 27-31.
http://www.ncaa.com/news/baseball/2011-05-16/diii-tournament-field-released
