All-NE-10 first team selection Chris Hoyt and second-seeded Stonehill will face No. 5 seed Dowling in the NCAA East Regional on Thursday. |
Second-seeded Skyhawks will open East Regional on Thursday against No. 5 seed Dowling
EASTON, Mass. (May 10, 2015) – The Stonehill College baseball team has earned its third bid to the NCAA Division II Tournament in program history, as announced tonight by the NCAA baseball selection committee.
Stonehill (33-13-1, 16-7 NE-10) is seeded second in the East Region and will open the double elimination tournament on Thursday against fifth-seeded Dowling College (27-15, 15-9 ECC) at Pappas Field on the campus of host and top-seeded Franklin Pierce University.
The Skyhawks, who need just one more victory to match their program record of 34 set in the 2000 campaign, earn their first-ever at-large bid to the NCAA Tournament following a run to the final round of the NE-10 Tournament this weekend. Dowling, the East Coast Conference regular season co-champion, is making its second straight trip to the NCAAs as the No. 5 seed in the East Region.
Stonehill is making its third appearance all-time in the NCAA Tournament, all three of which have come under 18th-year head coach Pat Boen. The Skyhawks earned their first trip back in 2000 after claiming the Northeast-10 Conference's automatic bid, and made a run to the NCAA East Regional final before falling to the College of Saint Rose. After a ten-year absence, Stonehill returned to the NCAA field in 2010 following the program's third NE-10 Tournament title in program history.
The NCAA East Regional, which will also feature third-seeded Southern New Hampshire University, fourth-seeded Wilmington University, and sixth-seeded Saint Thomas Aquinas College, will take place next Thursday-Sunday at Franklin Pierce. The East Region champion advances to the NCAA DII Championship, held from May 23-30 at the USA Baseball Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
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