Baseball Headed to Cape Cod for NCAA New England Regional
The Suffolk baseball team received a sixth seed to the 2017 NCAA DIII Baseball New England Regional and will face third-seeded, No. 14 St. John Fisher Thursday, May 18, marking the first time in program history that the Rams will take part in the Big Dance in three consecutive seasons.
NCAA RELEASE | NEW ENGLAND REGIONAL TOURNAMENT PAGE
BOSTON – The Suffolk baseball team received a sixth seed to the 2017 NCAA DIII Baseball New England Regional and will face third-seeded, No. 14 St. John Fisher Thursday, May 18, marking the first time in program history that the Rams will take part in the Big Dance in three consecutive seasons.
The two teams will meet for the first time ever in the 42nd rendition of the Division III NCAA Championship, with the first pitch taking place at White House Field, home of the Cape Cod Baseball League's Harwich Mariners, on Thursday, May 18, at 4:30 p.m. in Harwich, Massachusetts, hosted by Mass. Maritime Academy.
Thursday's tilt will not be the first meeting between the Rams and Cardinals this season, however, as Suffolk opened its 70th season versus then-No. 9 St. John Fisher at the RussMatt Central Florida Invitational March 10 with a convincing victory. Behind a powerful performance from senior right fielder Luke Ronchi the Rams handled the Cardinals, 11-3, in its 2017 debut.
The Rams earned punched their ticket to their seventh overall NCAA by capturing a third straight GNAC title, behind a 26-15 overall record and 12-2 league ledger. Suffolk defeated Johnson & Wales, 1-0, thanks to a stand-up showing on the mound from GNAC Pitcher of the Year and GNAC Tournament MVP Chuck Gibson, who shoved a one-hit, eight-strikeout, complete-game shutout, to claim the conference crown for the third straight year and seventh time overall. The Rams went 11-2 at home, 9-8 in road contests and 6-5 in neutral site games this season.
St. John Fisher is one of two teams outside of New England to head to Cape Cod this week as the Cardinals picked up an at-large bid with a 30-10 mark after falling to Ithaca in the Empire 8 Championship.
The winners of Thursday's showdown will meet the regional's second-seed Arcadia (32-11) or seventh-seed Worcester State (20-20) in the winner's bracket of the regional on Friday, May 19 under the lights at 8 p.m. The loser will play in a do-or-die contest at 1 p.m. Friday against the underdog of the same opponents.
This will be Suffolk's seventh trip to the dance in program history. The Rams, which heard their named called as part of the NCAA tournament field for the third consecutive season, is searching for its first postseason victory since the 2005 season and first NCAA tournament win under three-year head coach Anthony Del Prete. In its six trips, the Rams have taken the regional diamond 17 times, to own a 4-11 overall record in the big dance.
The New England Regional features three teams ranked in the top 25 of the latest D3Baseball.com poll – No. 14 St. John Fisher, No. 22 UMass Boston (33-10) and No. 23 Salve Regina (34-10), with Babson (25-13) and Arcadia also receiving votes. The field features seven conference champions – Arcadia (MACC), Babson (NEWMAC), UMass Boston (LEC), Penn State Berks (NEAC), Salve Regina (CCC), Suffolk (GNAC) and Worcester State (MASCAC), and one at-large bid, St. John Fisher.
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#25/RV ARCADIA (32-11) |
-/RV BABSON (25-13) Team Page Roster Schedule Statistics |
#17/19 UMASS BOSTON (33-10) Team Page Roster Schedule Statistics |
PENN STATE BERKS(20-19) Team Page Roster Schedule Statistics |
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| #22/18 ST. JOHN FISHER (30-10) Team Page Roster Schedule Statistics |
#20/22 SALVE REGINA (34-10) Team Page Roster Schedule Statistics |
SUFFOLK (26-15) Team Page Roster Schedule Statistics |
WORCESTER STATE (20-20) Team Page Roster Schedule Statistics |
A total of 56 teams were selected to the championship tournament. Winners of the eight regional tournaments book their ticket to Appleton, Wisconsin, for the double-elimination championship round that will be held May 26-31 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium hosted by Lawrence and Wisconsin Oshkosh.
NCAA DIVISION III NEW ENGLAND BASEBALL REGIONAL SCHEDULE
THURSDAY, MAY 18
GAME 1: #4 Salve Regina vs. #5 Babson - 9:30 a.m.
GAME 2: #1 UMass Boston vs. #8 Penn State Berks - 1:00 p.m.
GAME 3: #3 St. John Fisher vs. #6 Suffolk - 4:30 p.m.
GAME 4: #2 Arcadia vs. #7 Worcester State
FRIDAY, MAY 19
GAME 5: Loser Game #1 vs. Loser Game #2 - 9:30 a.m.
GAME 6: Loser Game #3 vs. Loser Game #4 - 1 p.m.
GAME 7: Winner Game #1 vs. Winner Game #2 - 4:30 p.m.
GAME 8: Winner Game #3 vs. Winner Game #4 - 8:00 p.m.
SATURDAY, MAY 20
GAME 9: Winner Game #6 vs. Loser Game #7 - 9:30 a.m.
GAME 10: Loser Game #8 vs. Winner Game #5 - 1:00 p.m.
GAME 11: Winner Game #7 vs. Winner Game #8 - 4:30 p.m.
GAME 12: Winner Game #10 vs. Winner Game #9 - 8:00 p.m.
SUNDAY, MAY 21
GAME 13: Winner Game #12 vs. Loser Game #11 - 12:00 p.m.
GAME 14: Winner game #11 vs. Winner Game #13 - 4:00 p.m.
MONDAY, MAY 22 - IF NECESSARY
GAME 15: Winner Game #14 vs. Loser Game #14 - 11:00 a.m.