FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Courtesy of UMass Boston Athletics Communications
SJC to face Wheaton on Friday,
Baruch also in four-team regional field,
BOSTON, Mass. — For the first time in program history, UMass Boston baseball will be hosting an NCAA Regional Tournament, the NCAA announced Monday afternoon.
The Little East Conference Champions will welcome Baruch College, Wheaton College (Mass.) and St. Joseph's College (Maine) to Monan Park this weekend for a four-team regional beginning on Friday, May 17.
This weekend's regional will be a four-team, double elimination, regional tournament format running from Friday, May 17 to Sunday, May 19. Tickets will be five dollars for all fans. More information about this weekend's tournament, including start times will be added to this release as it becomes available.
Livestats and video will be available for all games played this weekend.
UMass Boston is hosting a full regional tournament for the first time, after hosting the first two games in last year's NCAA New England Regional Tournament due to rain at the Harwich Regional.
Saint Joseph's College of Maine is the third seed in this weekend's tournament after winning the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) Tournament Title. The Monks finished second in the GNAC Regular Season, before going 3-1 in the GNAC Tournament. After losing to Johnson & Wales University (R.I.) in game one of the GNAC Tournament Championship Series, the Monks bounced back with a comeback, 11-inning, 8-7 win to take the title. Saint Joe's is making their first appearance in the regionals since 2014 and their ninth in the past 14 seasons.
The host Beacons come into the tournament red-hot, after going 4-0 in the LEC Tournament for the second-straight season. UMass Boston has won four in a row and 15 of their past 16 games, to run their record to 30-11 overall. The Beacons will be the top seed in a regional for the third-consecutive season, after going 4-0 to win the 2017 NCAA New England Regional and 2-2 at last year's New England Regional. Overall, UMass Boston is making their fourth-straight regional appearance and fifth in program history.
Baruch College is making their first-ever trip to the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament. The Bearcats are the four seed this weekend, after defeating Husson College two games to one in the CUNYAC-NAC NCAA Berth Playoff. Baruch won the City University of New York Athletic Conference Tournament by defeating their fellow regular-season champion College of Staten Island in back-to-back games. Over the weekend, Baruch traveled to Bangor, Maine to take on Husson and won the first and third games to win the crossover tournament. The Bearcats come in to this weekend's regional 17-18 overall.
Wheaton College (Mass.) is the second seed in this weekend's tournament. The Lyons earned one of the 16 Pool C bids, after going 0-2 in the New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament. Wheaton won the NEWMAC Regular Season Title and earned the number one seed in the NEWMAC by going 15-2 in the highly-competitive conference. Overall, Wheaton is 27-10 and will be making their first NCAA Tournament appearance since 2017, when they joined UMass Boston in the College World Series. Wheaton will be making their 15th overall NCAA Tournament appearance.