The nationally-ranked Oswego State baseball team has earned the No. 2 seed in the NCAA Division III Championship's New England Regional, which is hosted by seventh-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University in Mansfield, Conn. Four opening-round games start Wednesday in the eight-team, double-elimination tournament at Eastern Baseball Stadium, with the Lakers facing the host Warriors in the game's final day, scheduled for 7:45 p.m.
Seven of the eight teams in the regional qualified automatically by winning conference tournaments, led by New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) champion Wheaton College (MA), ranked second in the NCAA New England Region and 25th in the ABCA Division III national rankings.
SUNY Oswego, ranked second in the NCAA New York Region and No. 8 in the ABCA national poll, lost in the finals of the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) tournament on May 8 to No. 1 nationally-ranked and defending national champion SUNY Cortland, 3-1. The Lakers received one of 16 at-large berths in the 56-team field.
In addition to Wheaton and Eastern (Little East Conference), additional automatic qualifiers in the New England Regional are Salem State University (Mass. State College Athletic Conference), Mitchell College (New England Collegiate Conference), Tufts University (New England Small College Athletic Conference) and Suffolk University (Great Northeast Athletic Conference).
Eastern is making its 34th NCAA appearance, Wheaton its 13th, Keystone its ninth (straight), Oswego, Suffolk, Tufts and Salem their sixth, and Mitchell its fourth.
Eastern and Oswego have met twice in NCAA regional play, the Warriors winning both times in the second round: +16-14 at home in the Northeast Regional on the way to the 1982 national title, and 11-0 in 1986 at Ithaca, NY.
2016 NCAA DIVISION III
NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL TOURNAMENT
(double elimination)
Hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University
at Mansfield, Conn.
SEEDS
1. Wheaton College, MA (30-11); 2. SUNY Oswego (32-9); 3. Tufts U. (32-6); 4. Keystone College (33-9); 5. Suffolk U. (33-11); 6. Mitchell College (27-9); 7. Eastern Conn. (23-17); 8. Salem State U. (23-18-1)
Wednesday, May 18
Game 1: Keystone College vs. Suffolk U., 10 a.m.
Game 2: Wheaton College vs. Salem State U., 1:15 p.m.
Game 3: Tufts U. vs. Mitchell College, 4:30 p.m.
Game 4: SUNY Oswego vs. Eastern Conn., 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, May 19
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:15 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4;30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:45 p.m.
