MEDFORD, MA (May 18, 2023) -- The Tufts University baseball team, coming off a New England Small College Athletic Conference (NESCAC) title while entering this weekend ranked No. 17 by the Collegiate Baseball Top 30 poll, will travel to Mitchell College for the NCAA Tournament Regional, taking on the host Mariners on Friday afternoon in New London, CT.
Game Details
Links: NCAA Tournament Bracket |
NCAA Game Program |
Tournament Website
Site: New London, CT
Facility: Mitchell Baseball Field
Date: May 29-21, 2023
Live Coverage: Click on Tournament Website Above
A Look At The Jumbos (31-9):
The Jumbos are coming off sweeping through the NESCAC Tournament, earning their seventh all-time conference crown with a 12-1 defeat of Middlebury College on Sunday afternoon. The Jumbos won all three games up at Colby College last weekend, and have now won five of their last six including two of three over Amherst College in the NESCAC Quarterfinal round.
The NESCAC announced its postseason awards on Tuesday afternoon, and junior shortstop
Ozzie Fleischer was selected as the NESCAC Defensive Player of the Year while head coach
Paul Svagdis was honored by his peers with Coach of the Year accolades.
Brendan McFall was a First Team performer, while starter
Connor Kinney and outfield
Jimmy Evans were Second Team honorees.
The Jumbos won't wow you with the team statistics that some of the other squads have in the Tournament, but the Jumbos pitch the ball well, don't walk many and catch the ball. Tufts is led offensively by Evans, who is hitting .323 with four homers and 15 doubles, while first-year
Jesse McCullough is batting .373 with 31 hits in 83 at-bats, adding 21 runs scored.
Ben Leonard was selected as the NESCAC Player of the Week after going crazy in the NESCAC Tournament, hitting over .500 which included a 4-for-4 outing against Middlebury College Saturday.
On the bump, Tufts has a bevy of arms to turn to including the aforementioned
Connor Kinney, who has a 4.04 ERA with an unblemished 5-0 record, posting the only two complete games of the season for Tufts.
Silas Reed has been very good all season, going 6-1 with a team-high 67 strikeouts as teams are hitting just .237 off the right-hander.
Connor Podeszwa, the reigning NESCAC Pitcher of the Week after his gem in Sunday's title game, has a 3.79 ERA with 53 strikouts in 57 innings of work.
Aidan Tucker and McFall have been very strong in relief for Tufts, and
Cameron Mayer can work in many different situations as he has appeared in 34.2 innings while collecting 30 strikeouts.
Gavin Brown and
Lucas Gustavson have also combined for nine starts this season, and could be huge later in the weekend for Tufts.
Looking At Mitchell:
Mitchell enters the NCAA Championship with an overall record of 31-8 out of the New England Collegiate Conference. The Mariners have won seven of their last nine games. Mitchell enters the tournament batting .330 as a team and averaging 10.4 runs per game. The Mariners own a team ERA of 3.81 (20th in nation DIII) and have held opposing teams to a .263 batting average. Mitchell has faced four teams in this year's NCAA field, going 3-3 against Husson, Bridgewater St., Salve Regina, and Denison.
Mitchell finished first in the NECC standings (11-1) and were the top seed in the 2023 NECC Championship. The Mariners went 3-0 and outscored their opponents by a 46-6 margin in the tournament. Mitchell topped Eastern Nazarene College by a 15-3 final in the title game to claim its ninth NECC crown (seventh under Travis Beausoleil).
Owen Robbins was named tournament MVP while
Dougie DelaCruz and
Chris Gibbs earned all-tournament spots.
Mitchell defeated Lesley (3-2), New England College (28-2), and Eastern Nazarene College (15-2) in a dominant NECC championship tournament performance. In the first game, senior
Dougie DelaCruz snapped a 2-2 tie with a walk off home run in the bottom of the ninth inning. In the championship game against Eastern Nazarene,
Chris Gibbs tossed seven shutout innings, while
Lelo Martinez had a team high four hits and
Angel Galindez drove in a team best four runs.
Dougie DelaCruz was named NECC Player of the Year for the third time in his career. The Mariners had a total of seven players receive all-conference recognition:
Dougie DelaCruz (outfield),
Matt Falk (catcher),
Lelo Martinez (third base),
Ryan Solimine (pitcher),
Angel Galindez (shortstop), and
Bo Yaworski (first base). Head coach Travis Beausoleil earned NECC Coach of the Year honors for the fourth time in his tenure with the Mariners (2015, 2019, 2021, 2023). Mitchell is making its eighth appearance in the NCAA Championship (2022, 2021, 2018, 2016, 2015, 2014, 2011). The Mariners are 5-14 overall in the NCAA Championship, with the last victory coming against Lebanon Valley College in 2022.
What's Up With Wheaton:
The Lyons have posted a 37-6 record, which is the best win-loss tally through 43 games in school history, while their 16-1 mark in conference play represents the highest win percentage (.941) in a 17-game league slate in NEWMAC history. Wheaton is ranked first in Region 1 by the NCAA and eighth in the most recent D3baseball.com national poll and ninth in the Collegiate Baseball/American Baseball Coaches Association survey. The Lyons earned an automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament after winning their 17th New England Women's & Men's Athletic Conference Championship with a 10-2 victory over Babson College on May 8. Wheaton needed to win three straight elimination games, including two over the Beavers on the final day, to win the tournament title.
The Lyons have put together three winning streaks of eight or more games, including a pair of season-long strings of 10 in a row and did not lose consecutive games all season. Wheaton plays in the NCAA Tournament for the 18th time in school history. Wheaton plays Husson University (24-17), which earned an automatic bid as well after winning three consecutive elimination games, including a 4-1 victory over State University of New York Cobleskill to win the North Atlantic Conference crown on May 9. The Lyons are 3-0 in the all-time series and last played the Eagles in 2020 in a 9-2 victory in Auburndale, Fla on March 8.
Wheaton is led by Head Coach Eric Podbelski, who's coaching staff was named the NEWMAC Coaching Staff of the Year. Previously, he has been honored as the NEWMAC Coach of the Year 11 times. The Lyons boast the NEWMAC Baseball Athlete of the Year in senior Cavan Brady (Sheffield, Mass.) and the NEWMAC Pitcher of the Year, sophomore right-hander Ryan McCarroll (New Hyde Park, N.Y.). Wheaton is backed by a school-record eight All-Conference honorees, including four first team selections. Brady and McCarroll are joined on the First Team by senior third baseman Nick Croteau (Cumberland, R.I.) who sits on the left side of the infield with Brady, while junior AJ Guindon (Coventry, R.I.) patrols center field. Senior Zach Clesas (Johnston, R.I.) and junior Liam Goldthwaite (Braintree, Mass.) were both named to the Second Team as starting pitchers, while sophomore left fielder Kevin Matos (Lawrence, Mass.) and senior reliever Zach Nichols (Chicopee, Mass.) also earned spots on the Second Team.
The Lyons' pitching and defense have been a hallmark of their success, ranking fifth in the nation with a 3.23 earned run average, while standing sixth with 7.70 hits allowed per nine innings and second with 1.18 walks and hits per innings pitched. Wheaton has posted a 2.51 strikeout-to-walk ratio to place 30th in the nation, while ranking 13th with 2.93 walks allowed per nine innings. The team's .973 fielding percentage puts it 17th in all of Division III and its 38 double plays turned are the 16th-most in the country. The Lyons' offense has also been impressive as evidenced by a number 37 ranking in runs scored with 365 and a patient approach that has produced 233 walks to rank 16th in Division III. Wheaton led the NEWMAC with a .304 (464-1525) batting mark and also topped the league with 81 doubles, 38 home runs and a .407 on-base percentage. Opponents hit just .230 (331-1439) against Lyons pitching to lead the conference, while the staff's 316 strikeouts put them second.
How About Husson:
Husson University, the winners of the North Atlantic Conference, come into the Tournament 24-17 on the season after defeating SUNY Cobleskill twice in the title games back on May 9 to earn the spot in the field.
Hunter Curtis leads the way offensively with a .353 batting average, adding 17 extra-base hits and a team-high 26 RBI, while Akira Warren has a .329 batting average with 21 RBI and 34 runs scored. Tanner Evans is also hitting over .300 for the Eagles, while Jackson Curtis has added four homers, eight doubles and 24 RBI.
On the mound, Alex Smith and Connor Abood are the top arms, combining for 87 innings while Abood has fanned 35 hitters on the season. Matt Wallingford has 44 strikeouts in 39.2 innings as well.
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Action starts Friday at 10 AM with Wheaton and Husson, while Tufts and Mitchell play at 1:30 PM.
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