SHU Baseball Earns Ninth Straight NCAA Regional Appearance
For the ninth straight season, the Seton Hill baseball team will be making an appearance in the NCAA Division II Atlantic Regional after earning the PSAC's automatic bid when the field of 56 was selected on Sunday evening. The Griffins, 31-20 overall, earned the number six seed in the region. The team is coming off a perfect 4-0 showing in the PSAC Tournament, sweeping through the bracket for the team's second straight PSAC Championship. The Griffins defeated Millersville 5-1 late Saturday night to win the crown.
The Griffins will take on the number three seed in the tournament, Shepherd, in the opening round of the tournament on Thursday at 11 AM. Shepherd finished the season with a 34-17 record. The Rams earned an at large bid after falling in the MEC Tournament final to Charleston.
The Atlantic Region tournament will be hosted by Millersville University at Owls Field in West Lawn, PA. Owls Field is comprised of elevated terraces on both the right and left field lines, which is designed for "lawn chair" viewing. There are no bleachers in the stadium, so fans attending the tournament are encouraged to bring lawn chairs and/or blankets for a comfortable view of the games. Owls Field is welcoming to left-handed batters with dimensions down the right field line at 305 feet. The field is 360 feet in left field, 385 in left-center, 415 in center and 375 in right-center. Ticket prices for the event are: $30 for an adult tournament pass, $15 for a student/senior tournament pass, $10 for an adult daily ticket and $5 for a student/senior daily ticket.
West Chester earned the number one seed in the tournament. The Rams finished the season with a 31-15 record. West Chester won the PSAC East regular season title but went 0-2 in the PSAC Tournament, falling to the Griffins in the first round. West Chester will meet the winner of the Bloomsburg/Mercyhurst game in the second round on Friday. Bloomsburg earned the #4 seed in the tournament. The Huskies finished with a 31-18 overall record. Mercyhurst finished the season with a 32-13 record. The Lakers won the PSAC West regular season title.
The other first round matchup features #2 seed and host Millersville taking on #7 seed and MEC Champion Charleston on Thursday at 3 PM. Millersville was 34-18 on the season while Charleston finished the season 35-20, knocking off Shepherd in the MEC Tournament championship game.
With a win in the first round game, the Griffins will take on the winner of Millersville and Charleston on Friday evening at 7 PM. If the Griffins should drop their opening round contest, SHU would play an elimination game against the loser of Mill/UC on Friday morning at 11 AM.
The winner of the Atlantic Regional will advance to the 2018 NCAA Division II Baseball Championships, at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, NC. The tournament will run from May 26-June 2.
