Mahwah, NJ: The Ramapo College baseball team has earned their 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament after being awarded an at-large bid to the 2018 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Tournament announced last night on NCAA.com. The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 58 teams that will compete in the 2018 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship. Six teams will compete at three regional sites and eight teams will compete at five regional sites. All regionals will use a double-elimination format. Forty conference champions qualified automatically. Winners of the eight regional tournaments will qualify for the pool play double-elimination championship at Neuroscience Group Field at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin, Friday- Tuesday/Wednesday, May 25- 29/30, 2018.
The Roadrunners (32-13) earned the #5 seed at the Harwich, MA Region hosted by Massachusetts Maritime Academy at Whitehouse Field. Ramapo will take on #4 Western New England University (31-13) on Thursday, May 17th at 9:30am in game one of the regional. The winner advances to game seven on Friday, May 18th at 4:30pm while the loser will play on Friday morning at 9:30am in an elimination game.
Ramapo is making their 12th trip to the NCAA Tournament in program history and sixth out of the last eight seasons. The Roadrunners defeated Western New England twice while at the RussMatt Invitational, a 9-4 victory in 2015 where current senior Jerry D'Andrea earned the win on the mound and a 7-6 win in 2013. The Golden Bears enter the tournament for the 11th time in program history and won the Commonwealth Coast Conference Championship to earn the automatic bid.
The Roadrunners have history with two other schools in the regional. The #5/5 UMass Boston Beacons (34-8), who are the #1 seed, are looking to defend their 2017 NCAA Regional Title. The Beacons met the Roadrunners in 2010 and earned a 9-7 win. Ramapo and Keystone College met in the NCAA Tournament three straight seasons from 2011-2013 – the Giants hold a 3-1 overall record against the Roadrunners. Keystone (32-10), who are making their 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history, earned the #3 seed after winning their 10th straight CSAC Championship.
#2 Oswego State (26-12) earned the SUNYAC automatic bid with their second straight SUNYAC Championship. This is the Lakers ninth appearance in the NCAA Tournament in program history. #6 Mitchell College (30-8) earned their fifth trip to the NCAA Tournament when they won the NECC Championship to earn the automatic bid. #7 Suffolk University (25-17) earned their eighth trip to the NCAA Tournament when they won their fourth consecutive GNAC Championship to earn the automatic bid. #8 Penn State-Berks (25-10) won the NEAC Championship to earn the conference's automatic bid.