UTICA, NY – SUNYIT is set to host the 2011 North Eastern Athletic Conference West Division Baseball Tournament, which will be held on Friday, April 29 and Saturday, April 30. All games will be played in Rome, NY at the Rome Baseball Association, Inc., which is home to Larry DeLutis Field and Volunteer Field. Directions can be found here.
The SUNYIT baseball team earned the right to host the tournament after winning the NEAC West Division regular season championship with a 12-2 overall record. The Wildcats, who won last year's NEAC West Tournament as the No. 4 seed, have put together one of their greatest seasons ever, as they are sporting a program-best overall record of 22-12 while currently being ranked fourth nationally in both hits allowed per nine innings and earned run average.
The tournament will consist of a double-elimination format and will begin at 9:30 am on Friday. SUNYIT will take on No. 4 seed Penn State Berks at DeLutis Field (Game One), while No. 2 seed Penn State Abington will square off against No. 3 seed Gallaudet University at Volunteer Field (Game Two). The winners of each contest will then play against each other at 12:30 pm at DeLutis Field (Game Three), while the other two teams will square off on Volunteer Field at 12:30 pm as well (Game Four).
Saturday's action will all be played at DeLutis Field, with the loser of game three taking on the winner of game four at 9:00 am (Game Five). The winner of that contest will then take on the winner of game three at 12:00 pm (Game Six). Should another game be needed to determine the champion, the seventh and final game will be held at 3:00 pm.
The winner will then move on to square off against the NEAC East Division Champion for a best-of-three series on Saturday, May 7 and Sunday, May 8 at Castleton State College in Castleton, Vermont. The NEAC East Division consists of associate members from the North Atlantic Conference (NAC), which includes Castleton, Husson, Lyndon State, Maine-Farmington and Thomas. The winner of the three-game series will earn the NEAC's automatic qualifier to the NCAA DIII Regional Tournament.
An outline of the entire tournament schedule is as follows:
Friday, April 29
Location: Field 1*
Game 1: 9:30 am – No. 1 SUNYIT vs. No. 4 Penn State Berks
Game 3: 12:30 pm – Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2
Location: Field 2*
Game 2: 9:30 am – No. 2 Penn State Abington vs. No. 3 Gallaudet University
Game 4: 12:30 pm – Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2
Saturday, April 30
Location: Field 1*
Game 5: 9:00 am – Loser of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 4
Game 6: 12:00 pm – Winner of Game 3 vs. Winner of Game 5
Game 7: 3:00 pm – Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6 (if necessary)
*Field 1 = Larry DeLutis Field
*Field 2 = Volunteer Field