Courtesy of Binghamton Sports Information
Binghamton baseball is headed to Greenville, N.C. for
its inaugural NCAA Division I Championship appearance. Fresh
off the team's first-ever conference title, fourth-seeded BU
(29-20) will face top-seeded and host East Carolina in its opening
game at 7 p.m. Friday, May 29. The Pirates (42-17) are ranked
17th in the nation in the latest NCBWA Poll.
Second-seeded
South Carolina (38-21) will meet third-seeded George Mason (42-12)
in the other first-round game at 3 p.m. Friday at 3,000-seat
Clark-LeClair Stadium. The regional is a four-team, double-elimination
format that continues Saturday and Sunday. Saturday's games will
be at 2 and 6 p.m. The entire 64-team field was announced live
on ESPN. There were 30 automatic berths allotted to conference
champions and 34 at-large selections.
East
Carolina, which plays out of Conference USA, is making its 24th
NCAA appearance. The Pirates have qualified for regional competition
in 10 of the last 11 seasons. South Carolina, ranked 26th in
the nation, is one of eight teams to gain entry from the SEC.
George Mason, ranked 29th, is representing the Colonial Athletic
Association.
"East
Carolina has a tremendous tradition and they have been very successful
over the years," head coach Tim Sinicki said of his first-round
opponent. "Greenville is a great college town and I'm sure
they will support their team and make it a tremendous atmosphere.
Our guys are looking forward to the challenge. They are still
flying high after the weekend. We are all very excited and proud
to have this opportunity to represent Binghamton and the America
East."
Binghamton
captured its first America East tournament title in eight years
of membership by going 3-0 as the top seed this past weekend.
After winning the program's third consecutive regular season
title, BU hosted the four-team championship at Pete Sylvester
Field in Endicott and tied a conference record by scoring 37
runs in three games. In a memorable final evening, the team waited
out a nearly two-hour lightning delay before providing its own
offensive electricity in a 16-6 romp over second-seeded Albany.
The on-field celebration took place after 3 a.m. Sunday morning
- seven hours after the scheduled start time.
The
Bearcats have won three straight America East regular season
titles and own the league's highest win percentage in conference
play over the last six seasons.
NOTES
The Bearcats have tied the school record for wins (29) set by
last year's team... two other BU opponents from this spring made
the NCAA field (Marist and Army)... This is the first trip as
a coach to the NCAAs for 17th-year head coach Tim
Sinicki. As a standout pitcher for Western Carolina in 1987
and 1988, Sinicki's Catamounts made back-to-back NCAA Regional
appearances. East Carolina's stadium is named after Sinicki's
former teammate and friend Keith LeClair, who coached the Pirates
before succumbing to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis in 2006...
Five teams made the field for the first time in the program's
history: Binghamton is one of five teams making its first NCAA
appearance (Cal Poly, Georgia St., Kansas St. and Xavier).