New Paltz Baseball and Softball NCAA Division III Tournament Matchups Announced
New Paltz Sports Information Department
New Paltz, NY — The NCAA Softball and NCAA Baseball Selection Shows broadcasted Monday morning and revealed the first NCAA matchups each team will compete in both programs' histories.
The Rowan University Profs will host SUNY New Paltz in Glassboro, New Jersey, as well as two other teams. The NJAC champions are top seeded out of the regional group and finished fifth in the NCAA tournament last year. The Profs boast an impressive 34-7 record going into the regional round. The No.1 seeded Profs face the No. 4 seeded Centenary University Cyclones (NJ) in Game 1. The Cyclones came out of the Atlantic East conference 29-14, having won out after playing an extensive seven game post-season series to bring home the title. The matchup the Hawks are anticipating, however, will be against the MIT Engineers.
No. 2 seeded MIT had an automatic bid from winning out the NEWMAC and have achieved tournament berths seven out of the past nine years. MIT currently holds a 28-12 overall record, compared to SUNY New Paltz's 35-6. The Hawks enter the regional round at the third seed and holds the best record out of the four competitors but has the least NCAA tournament experience in the group.
The Hawks will face the Engineers in the first contest at Rowan University May 16 at 2:30 p.m. for Game 1. The regional round is double elimination, similar to the structure of the SUNYAC tournament. The winner of each regional round will advance to a "super regional" round, playing a best of three series with the other regional victors.
The State University of New York at New Paltz Softball clinched the SUNYAC title after defeating No. 2 seeded Cortland, having routed the Red Dragons 2-1 in the series with the final matchup a 5-0 dominant shutout. The Hawks hosted five SUNYAC competitors over a four-day span and defeated all of them to bring the trophy to the nest for the first time in program history.
SUNY New Paltz Baseball also received a NCAA ticket after a historic postseason showing. The Hawks routed nationally ranked Cortland twice in a row on their home turf, out running the Red Dragons 11-3 and 15-11, to secure the program's first conference championship.
The Hawks will travel east for their inaugural NCAA tournament matchup, trekking to Mansfield, CT to compete in the Mansfield Regional hosted by the Eastern Connecticut Warriors. Eastern Connected is No.22 nationally ranked, after a winning 29-13 season. The Warriors enter the tournament from an at-large bid, as they fell short in the double elimination Little East conference tournament. The Hawks will face off against the hosts first, on May 17 at 2:30 p.m.
Another potential regional opponent would be Husson University Eagles. The Eagles won the North Atlantic Conference championship at the first seed and enters the regional round placed fourth. But before moving on, Husson must fight in the battle of the birds, as the Eagles will go up against the Endicott University Seagulls in Game 1.
Endicott comes into the tournament ranked first nationwide. The Seagulls handily won Commonwealth Coast Conference championship, their third title in a row and ninth in program history. Endicott only dropped two games this season and totaled 41 victories, currently riding an 18-game win streak.
The baseball tournament style is also in a double-elimination format, and the winner of the four-team regional round will move on to the two-team contest, playing in a best of five series.
To view the full NCAA DIII softball bracket, click here
To view the full NCAA DIII baseball basketball bracket, click here
