INDIANAPOLIS, Ind. - - After a strong pitching performance during the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Tournament that landed the Wilmington University baseball team its second consecutive CACC Championship, the Wildcats earned the fifth seed in the upcoming NCAA Division II East Regional Tournament, hosted by Southern New Hampshire starting on Thursday, May 17.
The double-elimination regional competition will be held through Sunday, May 20, with the East Region champion advancing to Cary, N.C. to compete with the other seven regional titlists from May 26-June 2.
Wilmington (32-16) earned the CACC's automatic bid into the NCACC Division II regional round by winning its seconds straight CACC Tournament with a 1-0 win over top seeded Felician on Saturday at Frawley Stadium.
Pitching was the key all weekend long for the Wildcats, as the staff only allowed a combined two runs in three games to capture the championship. The Wildcats defeated No. 3 Dominican, 1-0, on Thursday on a walk-off single by Kyle Hitchens in the bottom of the ninth before coming back and defeating No. 1 Felician, 4-2, in the winners' bracket game on Friday. The team then used a bases loaded hit-by-pitch in the seventh to fuel them to a 1-0 win over Felician in the first game on Saturday to retain the title.
Host and No. RV (NCBWA poll)/21 (Collegiate Baseball poll) Southern New Hampshire (38-12) captured the East's top seed, making its first appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball Championships.
No. 21/20 Le Moyne (40-13-1) earned an automatic bid by winning the NE-10 Tournament after coming from the losers' bracket to win two games over Franklin Pierce.
Although it lost the NE-10 Tournament Championship; No. 14/26 Franklin Pierce (36-16-1) was named the third seed in the regional.
Winning a pair of NE-10 Championship games for the first time in program history this past week, St. Anselm (28-23-2) has earned the No. 4 seed in the upcoming regional. St. Anselm lost to Franklin Pierce on Saturday to be eliminated from the NE-10 Tournament.
Dowling (31-17) won its second straight East Coast Conference baseball championship on Saturday, defeating Bridgeport, 7-0, to earn the conference's automatic bid and the East Region's No. 6 seed.
Game times and ticket prices, along with a complete schedule, will be announced later on Monday.
AGATE:
2012 NCAA Division II Baseball East Regional:
#1 – Southern New Hampshire (38-12)*
#2 – Le Moyne (40-13-1)
#3 – Franklin Pierce (36-16-1)
#4 – St. Anselm (28-23-2)
#5 – Wilmington (32-16)
#6 – Dowling (31-17)