5/12/2008
The SUNY Cortland baseball team has received a berth into the 54-team NCAA Division III playoffs for the 16th straight season and the 17th time overall. The Red Dragons (38-3) have been chosen as the top seed in an eight-team regional hosted by Ithaca College at Auburn’s Falcon Park May 14-18. Cortland will play Wednesday at 1:15 p.m. versus eighth-seeded Grove City College (Pa.) (18-16) in the opening round.
Wednesday’s other games feature fourth-seeded Montclair State (N.J.) (26-18) versus fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut St. (29-13) at 10 a.m., third-seeded RPI (30-10) versus sixth-seeded SUNY Farmingdale (23-13) at 4:30 p.m. and second-seeded Ithaca (29-11) versus seventh-seeded Ohio Wesleyan (28-17) at 7:45 p.m. The tournament continues with four games on both Thursday and Friday, two games on Saturday and one, if needed, on Sunday.
The regional winner advances to the eight-team NCAA Division III World Series, which will be held May 23-27 in Grand Chute, Wis. (near Appleton; south of Green Bay). The World Series will be in Wisconsin for the ninth straight year.
Ranked second nationally by D3baseball.com and third in the ABCA Division III poll, Cortland brings a school-record 34-game winning streak into the regionals. The Red Dragons earned an automatic berth into the NCAA tournament by winning their 27th State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) title and 16th in the last 18 years. Under ninth-year head coach Joe Brown, Cortland reached the 30-win plateau for the 14th time in the last 15 seasons. Cortland’s run of 16 straight NCAA appearances is the longest active streak in Division III.
Cortland has won regional titles in eight of the last 13 years, including four of the five times the regional was held at Auburn (titles in 2000, 2001, 2005 and 2007; second in 2006). Cortland advanced to the World Series in 1995 and five straight years from 1997-2001, as well as in 2005 and 2007. Cortland placed second in the region in 1996, 2003 and 2006. The Red Dragons finished second nationally at the 2005 World Series, third in both 1997 and 1998 and fourth last season.
Cortland and Grove City will meet for the first time ever. The Wolverines earned an automatic berth into the NCAA playoffs after winning the Presidents’ Athletic Conference tournament title and will be making their first-ever NCAA showing.
Montclair State, from the New Jersey Athletic Conference, and Eastern Connecticut State, from the Little East Conference, both earned at-large bids to nationals. Ithaca received a “Pool B” berth into the tournament – the Bombers won the Empire 8 regular-season title, but the league does not receive an automatic berth for its champion. RPI (Liberty League), Farmingdale (Skyline Conference) and Ohio Wesleyan (North Coast Athletic Conference) were all automatic qualifiers.
Cortland has faced two of the other regional participants this season. The Red Dragons won two games at Montclair State in March and won at Ithaca in April. Cortland is 11-8 overall versus Montclair State, including a win over the Red Hawks in the 2001 World Series and two losses in the 1998 Series. Ithaca leads the overall series with Cortland by an 81-42-2 count, although Cortland is 8-2-1 versus the Bombers since 2005, including a 5-0 record in NCAA regional games.
Cortland is 2-3 lifetime versus Eastern Connecticut State, with all five meetings occurring in NCAA play. Eastern beat Cortland in the 1981 NCAA regionals, as well as twice in the 2006 regionals in Auburn to advance to the World Series. Cortland beat the Warriors in the 1998 World Series as well as once during the 2006 regionals. The Red Dragons are 19-10-1 overall versus RPI, although the teams haven’t met since a 2005 regular-season contest. Cortland is 3-1 overall against Ohio Wesleyan, with their last meeting a win by the Battling Bishops in Florida in 2006. Cortland defeated Farmingdale in their only meeting last season.
The Red Dragons are 8-3 this spring versus other NCAA qualifiers. Cortland went 2-0 versus both Wheaton (Mass.) and Montclair and 1-0 against Johns Hopkins, Randolph-Macon, Keystone and Ithaca. Cortland was 0-2 versus The College of New Jersey and 0-1 versus Rowan for its only three losses.
2008 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament
Regional at Falcon Park; Auburn, N.Y.; May 14-18 (hosted by Ithaca College)
Wednesday, May 14
Game 1: (#4) Montclair State (N.J.) (26-18) vs. (#5) Eastern Connecticut St. (29-13), 10 a.m.
Game 2: (#1) Cortland (38-3) vs. (#8) Grove City (Pa.) (18-16), 1:15 p.m.
Game 3: (#3) RPI (30-10) vs. (#6) Farmingdale (23-13), 4:30 p.m.
Game 4: (#2) Ithaca (29-11) vs. (#7) Ohio Wesleyan (28-17), 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, May 15
Game 5: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 6: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, 1:15 p.m.
Game 7: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4:30 p.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7:45 p.m.
Friday, May 16
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Loser Game 7, 10 a.m.
Game 10: Winner Game 5 vs. Loser Game 8, 1:15 p.m.
Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 4:30 p.m.
Game 12: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, 7:45 p.m.
Saturday, May 17
Game 13: Winner Game 12 vs. Loser Game 11, 1 p.m.
Game 14: Winner Game 11 vs. Winner Game 13, 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 18
Game 15: Same teams as Game 14 (if necessary), 1 p.m.