BOSTON – After capturing its fourth consecutive GNAC Tournament Championship last Sunday, the Suffolk baseball earned the seventh seed in the New England Regional when the 2018 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament field was announced overnight.
The Rams will open play in the eight-team double-elimination bracket against second-seed, No. 23 Oswego State Thursday, May 17 at 8 p.m. The two teams will meet for the first time ever in the 43rd rendition of the Division III NCAA Championship, with the first pitch taking place at White House Field, home of the Cape Code Baseball League's Harwich Mariners, in Harwich, Massachusetts, hosted by Mass. Maritime Academy.
Suffolk punched its ticket by capturing its fourth GNAC title in as many years, behind a 25-17 overall record and the best league ledger under Anthony Del Prete, 13-1, which was good for the regular season conference title. To hoist the trophy for the fourth consecutive campaign, the Rams kept Ram Nation on the edge of its seats, using one-run victories in each round of the conference tourney to claim the crown.
Oswego State (26-12) is one of four teams outside of New England to head to Cape Cod this week as the Lakers sealed their spot in the 58-team field after winning the SUNYAC Championship.
The winner of Thursday's tilt will meet the regional's third-seed Keystone (32-10) or sixth-seed Mitchell (30-8) in the winner's bracket of the regional on Friday, May 18 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 marks Suffolk's eighth tip to the dance in program history. The Rams, which have yet to miss a NCAA Tournament in the Del Prete era, look to advance to the winner's bracket for the second straight season after reaching Championship Sunday in Harwich a year ago. In its seven trips, Suffolk has taken the regional diamond 21 times, to own a 6-13 overall record in the big dance.
The New England Regional features three teams ranked in both the top 25 of the latest D3Baseball.com/NCBWA Top 25 and ABCA/Collegiate Baseball NCAA DIII Baseball Poll – No. 5 UMass Boston, No. 19/21 Keystone and No. 23 Oswego State with Mitchell and Ramapo also receiving votes. The field features seven conference championship – Keystone (CSAC) (32-10), UMass Boston (LEC) (34-8), Mitchell (NECC) (30-8), Oswego State (SUNYAC), Penn State Berks (NEAC) (25-10), Suffolk (GNAC) and Western New England (CCC) (31-13) – and Ramapo (32-13) at-large bid.
A total of 58 teams were selected to the championship tournament. Winners of the eight regionals book their ticket to Appleton, Wisconsin, for the pool play double-elimination championship round that will be held May 25-29 at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium hosted by Lawrence and Wisconsin Oshkosh.
GAME 1: #4 Western New England vs. #5 Ramapo – 9:30 a.m.
GAME 2: #1 UMass Boston vs. # 8 Penn State Berks – 1:00 p.m.
GAME 3: #3 Keystone vs. #6 Mitchell – 4:30 p.m.
GAME 4: #2 Oswego State vs. #7 Suffolk – 8:00 p.m.
GAME 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2 – 9:30 a.m.
GAME 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4 – 1:00 p.m.
GAME 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2 – 4:30 p.m.
GAME 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 – 8:0 p.m.
GAME 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7 – 9:30 a.m.
GAME 10: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 6 – 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.
GAME 13: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11 – 12:00 p.m.
GAME 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13 – 3:30 p.m.