May 11, 2009

Indianapolis, IN -

The NCAA Division II Baseball Committee has selected the 48 teams that will participate in the 2009 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship. The Panthers, after capturing the ECC Championship on Sunday, earned an automatic bid to the tournament where they were awarded a #3 seed behind Franklin Pierce and Dominican respectively. Dowling, Assumption and Dominican round out the final six teams in the East Region.

This is Adelphi’s 15th Regional appearance and the last since 2007 where they went 2-2, losing to Franklin Pierce, beating Caldwell and splitting with Bryant.

The championship provides for eight regional sites - six sites will host six teams, the West region will host four teams and the South region will host eight teams. All Regionals are double-elimination tournaments and will be played at on-campus sites May 14-18. Regional champions will advance to the double-elimination championship finals May 23-30 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina. The finals will be hosted by Mount Olive College and the town of Cary, North Carolina.

Nineteen conferences receive automatic qualification into the 2009 championship. Each conference and its automatic qualifier are listed below:

California Collegiate Athletic Conference - UC San Diego
Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference - Wilmington (Delaware)
Conference Carolinas - Belmont Abbey
East Coast Conference - Adelphi
Great Lakes Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Grand Valley State
Great Lakes Valley Conference - Northern Kentucky
Gulf South Conference - Southern Arkansas
Heartland Conference - Texas Permian Basin
Lone Star Conference - Abilene Christian
Mid-America Intercollegiate Athletics Association - Nebraska-Omaha
Northeast-10 Conference - Franklin Pierce
Northern Sun Intercollegiate Conference - Minnesota State Mankato
Peach Belt Conference - Francis Marion
Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference - West Chester
Rocky Mountain Athletic Conference - Colorado State-Pueblo
South Atlantic Conference - Catawba
Southern Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Stillman
Sunshine State Conference - Barry
West Virginia Intercollegiate Athletic Conference - Shepherd

In the 2008 championship, Mount Olive College captured its first national championship title with a 6-2 victory over Ouachita Baptist University. This year marks the 42nd annual championship, and the first year that the finals have been held in Cary, North Carolina.

Sites/Pairings
*Denotes host institution
Central Regional at Grand Junction, Colorado
1.*Mesa State 39-13
2.Minnesota State Mankato 38-15
3.Wayne State (Nebraska) 42-13
4.New Mexico Highlands 39-18
5.Southwest Minnesota State 27-13
6.Colorado State-Pueblo 39-20

Atlantic Regional at Kutztown, Pennsylvania
1.West Chester 42-10
2.*Kutztown 33-15
3.Shepherd3 3-16
4.Mercyhurst 35-15
5.West Virginia State 31-13
6.Concord 27-13

Midwest Regional at Chillicothe, Ohio 1.*Ashland 41-13-1
2.Grand Valley State 41-13-1
3.Southern Indiana 37-17
4.Northern Kentucky 40-20
5.Indianapolis 40-19
6.Rockhurst 35-21

East Regional at Rindge, New Hampshire
1.Dominican (New York) 37-12
2.*Franklin Pierce 36-16
3.Adelphi 31-14
4.Dowling 30-15
5.Assumption 32-18-1
6.Wilmington (Delware) 27-27

South Regional at Magnolia, Arkansas
1.*Southern Arkansas 49-9
2.Barry 44-9
3.West Alabama 37-14
4.Tampa 38-15
5.Lynn 38-16
6.Florida Southern 38-14
7.Valdosta State 41-19
8.Stillman 35-20

Southeast Regional at Aiken, South Carolina 1.*South Carolina Aiken 39-17
2.Francis Marion 36-13-1
3.Georgia College3 7-17
4.Catawba 35-16
5.Tusculum 36-16
6.Belmont Abbey 34-24

South Central Regional at Warrensburg, Missouri
1.*Central Missouri 41-13
2.Abilene Christian 43-17
3.Angelo State 43-18
4.Emporia State 42-12
5.Nebraska-Omaha 40-18
6.Texas Permian Basin 39-17

West Regional at Keizer, Oregon
1.UC San Diego 36-12
2.*Western Oregon 33-12
3.Sonoma State 32-14
4.Cal State Dominguez Hills 34-21

For more information regarding the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship, log on to www.NCAA.com.

Courtesy of NCAA.com