STANDISH, ME - The 2013 NCAA DIII Baseball Tournament field has been released and Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Champion Saint Joseph's College, the #6 seed, will face third-seeded Endicott College in the opening round of the national tourney on Wednesday, May 15th at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Massachusetts.
The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 56 teams that will compete in the 2013 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. Six teams will compete at four regional sites and eight teams will compete at four 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 May 24-28 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wis.
Saint Joseph's has claimed the #6 seed in the eight-team NCAA New England Regional Tournament and will play third-seeded Endicott, the 2013 Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Champions, on Wednesday at 4:30 PM. Other first-round contests include #1 University of Southern Maine versus #8 Daniel Webster College, #2 Wheaton College against #7 Salem State University and #4 Western New England University versus #5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT).
The Monks, 30-12 overall and 13-3 in conference play this spring, will be making their fourth-consecutive national tourney appearance and seventh in the last eight seasons when the NCAA New England Regional begins this week. Saint Joseph's, ranked seventh in the most current NCAA Regional Rankings, claimed an automatic berth into the NCAA Tournament with a thrilling 7-6 victory in 10 innings over Suffolk University in the GNAC Championship game on Sunday, April 28th.
Featuring a senior class that is well-versed in the rigors of NCAA Tournament play, the Monks - one of three teams to be making their fourth-straight New England Regional appearance this spring - will lean on the postseason experience of the 2013 roster to help lead the team to a lengthy tourney run. Reigning New England Champion Wheaton and 2011 title-winner Western New England will also be making their fourth-consecutive New England Regional appearance this week.
The Monks' recent experience has been particularly fruitful, as the Royal Blue has notched at least two victories in each of the past three regional tournaments. Last year, Saint Joseph's - the #2 seed - defeated #7 Bowdoin College and #4 Keene State College. The Monks recorded victories over Wheaton and top-seeded Tufts University as the #6 seed in the 2012 New England Regional and posted wins against #5 Worcester State University, #3 Western New England and #2 Wheaton as the #8 seed in the 2011 tournament.
Endicott, ranked third in the latest NCAA DIII Regional Rankings, claimed the CCC automatic qualifier after defeating Western New England by a 12-3 margin in the conference championship on Sunday, May 5th. The Gulls opened CCC Tournament play with a loss to Wentworth Institute, but managed to win four-consecutive elimination contests by a combined score of 43-5 en route to claiming the program's first conference crown since 2006.
Winners of 13 of their last 14 contests, the Gulls will be making their fifth NCAA Tournament appearance in program history.
COMPLETE 2013 NCAA TOURNAMENT FIELD:
Saint Joseph's College is Maine's only Catholic liberal arts college, providing a supportive, personalized and career-focused education for more than 100 years. From its 350-acre campus on the shores of Sebago Lake, the College offers more than 40 undergraduate programs to a population of approximately 1,000 students. Saint Joseph's College Online provides certificates, undergraduate and advanced degrees for working adults through an online learning program. For more, visit www.sjcme.edu.
