GANSEVOORT, N.Y. – Coach Kevin Edick and the rest of the SUNYIT baseball team endured probably the most stressful day of their season on Sunday. The funny part? They didn't even have a game.
The Wildcats entered the past weekend with a 10-8 NEAC record. They needed a little help to qualify for the tournament, but things looked good – either 2 losses from Keuka in their 3-game set with Penn St.-Berks, or one loss from Penn St.-Berks in their 3-game set with Gallaudet.
While the former case might have been a bit of a stretch, the latter case seemed probable. After all, what were the chances that Gallaudet, last year and this year's top seed in the NEAC, would get swept?
And then Saturday happened.
First, Keuka won both its games over Penn St.-Berks, including a dramatic come-from-behind extra inning win in a game where the Storm were down 7-1 going into the bottom of the 7th. This dashed any hope of help from the Nittany Lions.
But we still had the Gallaudet game. They would take care of business, wouldn't they?
But against all odds, the other Nittany Lions (Abington), with their season on the line, took down last year's Pitcher of the Year Brandon Holsworth en route to a shocking doubleheader sweep of the Bison.
All of this set up Sunday's showdown between the Bison and Penn St.-Abington, with SUNYIT needing a Gallaudet win in order to qualify for the playoffs. Thankfully for SUNYIT, Gallaudet delivered with a 17-7 win. It will, of course, be the last time the Wildcats cheer for the Bison, as they now head to Washington, D.C., as the NEAC's #4 seeded team.
SUNYIT will square off with the top-seeded Bison on Friday at 9 am in the double-elimination tournament. A complete breakdown of the tournament is included below. Live stats will be available for each game at http://livestats.prestosports.com/gallaudet/
Live video may be available for some, if not all, games. A link will be provided later in the week.
For the full NEAC Tournament press release, click here.
Friday, May 9
Game 1: 9 a.m. – No. 1 Gallaudet University vs. No. 4 SUNY Institute of Technology
Game 2: 12 p.m. – No. 2 Keuka College vs. No. 3 Penn State Berks
Game 3: 3 p.m. – Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2
Saturday, May 10
Game 4: 10 a.m. – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
Game 5: 1 p.m. – Loser of Game 3 versus Winner of Game 4
Sunday, May 11
Game 6: 10 a.m. – Winner of Game 3 versus Winner of Game 5
Game 7 (if necessary): 1 p.m. – Loser of Game 6 (if first loss) vs. Winner of Game 6