Baseball Seeded Eighth in Harwich Regional
INDIANAPOLIS – The Mitchell College baseball team is one of 56 squads which will compete in the 2014 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, as announced by the NCAA early Monday morning.
The Mariners (23-12-1 overall) will be the eighth seed in the Harwich, Mass. regional and will face top-seeded Eastern Connecticut State University (32-7) in the opening round of the double-elimination tournament, which begins on Wednesday, May 14. Game time is scheduled for 1:00 p.m. at Whitehouse Field.
Wednesday's other games feature fourth-seeded Endicott College (30-14) against fifth-seeded MIT (24-13) at 9:30 a.m., third-seeded Tufts University (33-7) against sixth-seeded Saint Joseph's College of Maine (28-13) at 4:30 p.m. and second-seeded University of Southern Maine (31-12) against seventh-seeded Worcester State University (25-15) at 8:00 p.m.
Tournament action continues with four games on both Thursday and Friday, starting at 9:30 a.m. each day, along with two games Saturday and one, if necessary, on Sunday. The winner of the regional advances to the eight-team NCAA Division III World Series, which will be held May 23-27 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wis.
Mitchell was one of 40 teams in the field that qualified automatically by winning its conference championship. The Mariners, under third-year head coach Travis Beausoleil, slugged their way out of the loser's bracket to claim the 2014 New England Collegiate Conference Baseball Championship and earn the automatic berth. Mitchell is making its second NCAA appearance and first since 2011.
ECSU also earned an automatic bid by winning the Little East Championship. The Warriors are the top-ranked team in the latest regional rankings under first-year head coach Matt LaBranche. ECSU is making its 33rd NCAA appearance and has won 12 regional championships and four national titles (1982, 1990, 1998, 2002).
General admission tickets are $5 a day (children under 12 are free) and can be purchased at the gate.
2014 NCAA Division III Baseball Regional
Hosted by the ECAC at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Mass.
1. Eastern Connecticut State (32-7)
2. Southern Maine (31-12)
3. Tufts (33-7)
4. Endicott (30-14)
5. MIT (24-13)
6. Saint Joseph's Maine (28-13)
7. Worcester State (25-15)
8. Mitchell (23-12-1)