ERIE, Pa. – After putting together the most productive season in school history with a record 32 wins and the program's first outright PSAC West regular season championship, Gannon baseball locked up the three seed in the 2019 NCAA Atlantic Regional hosted by West Chester, announced late Sunday night.
Gannon (32-15) will face six-seeded Charleston (W. Va.) in the newly formatted regional split into two tournaments. Much like the Division I baseball tournament, the DII baseball championship will have an added Super Regional round, where the winners of each regional tournament will meet in a best-of-three series to decide who moves on to Cary to play for the national championship. From there, a double-elimination tournament will begin to crown the 2019 champion.
"I'm excited for the university, for the Gannon baseball program," head coach
Greg Coleman said following the Selection Show. "All of our players, all the guys that came before them, the alumni, they're all part of this."
The Golden Knights made their second straight conference tournament appearance and notched the program's first-ever victory in the opening game of the PSAC Tournament with a thrilling 5-4 walk-off victory against East Stroudsburg on May 8. After rain and wind forced a change to the initial schedule, Gannon was ultimately eliminated with consecutive losses to West Chester and Seton Hill last Friday.
"It's amazing, really," senior catcher
Nate Cardy (Franklin, Pa./Franklin) said. "We've been really close the last few years, and finally being able to do it means everything."
Of the 56 teams announced in the NCAA DII tournament field, 23 were automatic qualifiers after winning their respective conference championships, while the rest of the field picked up an at-large bid. Bloomsburg was crowned the champions of the PSAC early this afternoon after conference officials were forced to forego the rest of the bracket due to weather and poor field conditions. The Huskies went 3-0 in the conference tournament, defeating Mercyhurst, Millersville and West Chester to earn their first conference crown since 1965.
A full preview of the Golden Knights matchup with Charleston will be posted later this week in advance of the NCAA Atlantic Regional. The game will take place at West Chester's Serpico Stadium.
