STANDISH, ME - #6 Saint Joseph's College (30-12, 13-3 GNAC) will face #3 Endicott College (32-12, 15-1 CCC) in the opening round of the 2013 NCAA DIII Baseball New England Regional Tournament at 4:30 PM on Wednesday at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Massachusetts.

The double-elimination tourney begins at 9:30 AM on Wednesday when #4 Western New England University takes on #5 Massachusetts Institute of Technology (MIT) and continues when #1 University of Southern Maine plays #8 Daniel Webster College at 1:00 PM. Second-seeded Wheaton College, the 2012 NCAA New England Regional Champions and World Series runner-up, caps the first day with an 8:00 PM contest versus #7 Salem State University.

How they got here:

Saint Joseph's, the second seed in the 2013 Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament, narrowly avoided elimination in the tourney several weeks ago. The Monks defeated #3 Suffolk University, 8-6, in a GNAC quarterfinal on April 25th and trumped top-seeded Johnson & Wales University by a 7-2 margin two days later to advance to the GNAC Championship as the only remaining undefeated team. Suffolk, playing Saint Joseph's in the conference title tilt for the sixth time in as many years, toppled the Monks by a 7-2 margin in the first game to make the "if necessary" contest a reality. The Rams led 6-1 going into the bottom of the seventh in the true championship tilt, but St. Joe's rallied with six unanswered runs, including three with two out in the ninth, to claim a thrilling 7-6 victory in 10 innings.

Endicott claimed the CCC automatic qualifier after defeating top-seeded 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.

Recipe for success – Saint Joseph's:

Pitching has been the Monks' strength all season, as the staff – led by senior co-aces Tyler Laverriere (Biddeford, Maine) and Chad Rafferty (Keene, N.H.) – has posted lofty numbers this spring. As of last week's NCAA Statistics rankings, Saint Joseph's ranked second in the country in K/BB ratio (3.88) and eighth in team ERA (2.73). Through 42 contests, the Monks own a 2.61 ERA with a 302/78 K/BB ratio and opponents are hitting just .220 against the Royal Blue this season.

Laverriere, the 2013 GNAC Pitcher of the Year, currently sports a 0.97 ERA with a 5-2 record to go with 58 K's and just 13 walks in 55.2 innings. He has allowed a paltry .192 (38-198) opponents' batting average and surrendered just seven extra-base hits (all doubles) this season.

Rafferty, the 2012 GNAC Pitcher of the Year and All-America honoree, is a true big-game pitcher. The program's all-time wins leader (27-3) has allowed just two earned runs in his last 17.1 innings over two appearances at the 2011 and 2012 NCAA tournaments and recently garnered the second GNAC Tournament MVP accolade of his career. This spring, Rafferty is 6-2 with a 3.70 ERA and a 48/10 ratio in 56 innings and was listed on the All-GNAC First Team for the second-consecutive season.

Junior Nick Whittaker (Yarmouth, Maine) is in the midst of a breakout season, as the 6'4" righthander is 6-2 with a 1.41 ERA to go with 54 strikeouts and 17 walks in 51 innings. Junior Joe Gruntkosky (Peabody, Mass.) is 5-3 on the year with a 2.64 ERA and an impressive 52/8 ratio in 44.1 innings and sophomore Alex Valenti (Lawrence, Mass.) is a perfect 4-0 to go with a 1.80 ERA and a 32/9 ratio in 40 frames this spring.

Senior captain Jimmy Kennedy (York, Maine), who is 3-0 with a 1.82 ERA and an 18/3 K/BB ratio, will likely play an important role in the tournament, as will sophomore reliever Corey McNamara (West Newbury, Mass.), who leads the team in appearances (15) and has a 17/9 ratio in 23.1 innings. Also look for sophomore southpaw Dan Meeken (Marshfield, Mass.) to log meaningful innings in the tourney. The deceptive lefty has fanned 13 while walking a pair in 10.2 frames of relief this spring.

Pitching has certainly been the Monks' bread and butter this season, but the team's lineup is not lacking for impact players. Junior right fielder Alex Lorenc (Nanuet, N.Y.), senior first baseman Mike Pratt (Dartmouth, Mass.), sophomore catcher Joe Coyne (Duxbury, Mass.), senior second baseman Brandon Chase (Naples, Maine) and sophomore designated hitter Nic Lops (South Portland, Maine/Cheverus) all earned All-Conference honors this spring.

Lorenc leads the team with a .377 (52-138) batting average and has tallied 25 runs, nine doubles, five home runs and 31 RBI this season, while Chase is enjoying another fine season, hitting .353 (49-139) with 24 runs, 13 doubles, four triples, 21 RBI and seven stolen bases. Pratt paces the Royal Blue in home runs (6) and RBI (46) and heads into the tourney hitting .331 (46-139) with 29 runs and 12 doubles and Coyne is batting .319 (46-144) with 29 runs, 13 doubles, two homers and 32 RBI. Lops, the 2012 GNAC Rookie of the Year, has battled through injuries to hit .337 (33-98) with 16 runs, six doubles and 16 RBI in 28 games.

Saint Joseph's is 28-2 when scoring three or more runs and owns a 26-2 record when leading after five innings this season.

Recipe for success – Endicott:

The Gulls could be the most well-rounded team in this year's New England Regional Tournament. Endicott enters tourney play with a .322 team batting average with a 2.89 earned run average and a strong .968 fielding percentage.

The Gulls' lineup features eight players with a .300 average or higher, including five batting at least .350. Freshman third baseman Matthew Paola (Middlebury, Conn.) leads the team with a .382 (39-102) average and has tallied 27 runs, 10 doubles, three homers and 28 RBI and senior first baseman Brett Holmgren (Middleboro, Mass.) enters the tournament hitting .372 (54-145) with 33 runs, nine doubles and 27 RBI. Sophomore second baseman Harry Oringer (Dartmouth, Mass.) is batting .362 (55-152) and paces the Gulls in hits (55) and runs (42) and junior center fielder Tad Gold (Martha's Vineyard, Mass.) is hitting .361 (44-122) with 33 runs, 24 RBI and a team-high 18 stolen bases. Left fielder Colin Sitarz (West Hartford, Conn.) is perhaps the Gulls' most dangerous hitter, as the first baseman is currently hitting .343 (48-140) with 35 runs, a team-high 11 doubles and 35 RBI.

Not to be forgotten is Endicott's propensity to steal bases. The Gulls have swiped 104 bags in 137 attempts and feature seven players with seven or more stolen bases this spring.

Endicott's outstanding pitching staff is led by 2013 CCC Pitcher of the Year Tyler Hitchcock (Abington, Mass.), who begins tournament play with an 8-1 record along with a 1.65 ERA and a 36/13 ratio in a team-high 65.1 innings. The senior righthander has yielded a .170 (39-229) opponents' batting average and just 10 extra-base hits this spring. Brendan Pittsley (Plympton, Mass.) is a perfect 7-0 on the season with a 2.38 ERA and 41 K's in 45.1 innings and Mike Nich (Orange, Conn.) also possesses impressive numbers, with a 6-1 record along with a 2.91 ERA and 44 punch outs in 52.2 frames this season.

The Gulls also feature a true closer, an asset that is a rarity at the NCAA DIII level. Senior righty Kevin Dupras Belchertown, Mass.) owns a 0.64 ERA with seven saves over 18 appearances along with 33 K's in 28.1 innings of work this spring and figures to play a key role in the tournament.

Endicott has turned 41 double plays this season, a total that is thanks in large part due to the play of Oringer and freshman shortstop Cody Hall (Rutland, Mass.) up the middle. Junior catcher EJ Martinez (Brooklyn, N.Y.), a converted infielder, has been solid behind the plate and has thrown out 26.8% (11-41) of would-be basestealers this season.

The Gulls are 18-0 in games in which they have scored in the first inning and have outscored opponents by an 82-27 margin in the first two innings combined this season. On the flip side, Endicott is 9-12 when scoring five or fewer runs in a game.

Attitude reflects leadership:

St. Joe's Head Coach Will Sanborn '86 is in his 21st season as the Monks' skipper and has guided his program to 15 titles during his tenure. Sanborn, currently 572-307-5 (.651) in his career, is the winningest coach in SJC Athletics history.

Sixth-year Head Coach Bryan Haley (160-104, .606) was named as the 2013 CCC Coach of the Year, his second conference coaching accolade in six seasons with the Gulls. He has guided Endicott to a pair of 30-win seasons – the only 30-win campaigns in the 19-year history of the program - during his brief tenure. Endicott, a member of the GNAC during the 1997-1999 seasons and winners of the first GNAC Baseball Championship (1997), earned a bid to the ECAC Tournament in each of the last two seasons and captured titles in both appearances under Haley's watch.

The last time we met:

Saint Joseph's faced Endicott in Beverly, Massachusetts on March 27th and suffered a 4-2 setback at the hands of the Gulls that day. Trailing 2-1 in the fourth, Endicott scored three unanswered runs on a two-run triple by Eric Lemke (Southington, Conn.) and an RBI single by Ralph Fidaleo (Fairfield, Conn.) to claim the victory. Hitchcock pitched seven and a third innings in earlier meeting, allowing just one earned run on five hits. Dupras earned the first of seven saves this year in the game.

Rafferty pitched seven innings and allowed four runs on nine hits in falling to 2-1 on the year in the loss. Senior captain Sam Butts (Saco, Maine) was 3-4 with two runs and a solo homer in the setback.

Saint Joseph's owns a 10-4 record in the history of the series with Endicott College. Prior to the March 27th loss, the Monks had defeated the Gulls in four-consecutive meetings.

Common Opponents:

The Monks and Gulls have nine common opponents from this season: Bowdoin College, Husson University, Roger Williams University, Southern Maine, Bates College, UMass.-Boston, Gordon College, Suffolk and Curry College. Endicott posted a 14-4 collective record versus the group while Saint Joseph's went 10-8 against the same collection of opponents.

2012 season synopsis:

Saint Joseph's, ranked sixth in the latest New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association (NEIBA) DIII Weekly Poll, opened the season ranked 14th in the nation and was as high as ninth in the country several weeks later. In early April, the Monks hit a low point in the season with four-consecutive losses and held a 14-9 record after capping the losing streak with a setback at Southern Maine on April 9th. The skid effectively removed Saint Joseph's from the national rankings, but the Monks have posted a 16-3 record since and have played their best baseball of late.

Endicott, the #3 team in New England according to the recent NEIBA Poll, enters the NCAA Tournament as one of the hottest teams in the region. The Gulls have won 13 of their last 14 games and scored 25 runs off 36 hits combined in CCC Tournament victories over Salve Regina University and Western New England on May 5th.

NCAA Tournament history:

St. Joe's will be making its seventh NCAA Tournament appearance over the last eight seasons when tourney play begins on Wednesday.

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 will be making its fifth NCAA Tournament appearance and first since the 2006 campaign, when the Gulls were awarded the #7 seed in the New York Regional Tournament, which took place at Ithaca College. Endicott went 0-2 at Ithaca, with losses to the host-Bombers and Centenary College.

The Gulls own a 1-8 record in NCAA Tournament play, with the lone victory being a 12-10 triumph over Amherst College in the New England Regional on May 21st, 2004.

2013 NCAA New England Regional Tournament Schedule: