The Suffolk University Baseball team (23-20 overall) earned selection into the 2011 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Tournament. The fifth-seeded Rams will open up the eight team single elimination tournament on Wednesday afternoon as they take on number four seed Wentworth Institute of Technology (24-15 overall) in the opening round at 3:00pm over at Parsons Field at Northeastern University.
The Rams will be making their second consecutive appearance in the ECAC Tournament, and seventh appearance under Head Coach Cary McConnell since the 1996 season. The Rams won their lone ECAC Tournament Championship in the 2000 season.
Suffolk enters the tournament with a 23-20 overall record. The Rams finished in third place in the regular season in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) before falling to St. Joseph's College of Maine, 8-6 in the conference finals.
Wentworth enters the tournament with a 24-15 overall record. The Leopards advanced to the semifinals of the Commonwealth Coast Conference (TCCC) before falling to eventual champion Western New England College, 4-2 and 9-3 this past Saturday.
The past season saw a couple of milestones for the Rams as freshman Jake Cintolo (Wrentham, Mass.) set the Suffolk single season hit record of 70. In 43 games this season the freshman third baseman has now collected 73 hits on the year. Rams skipper Cary McConnell also earned his 400th victory in a Suffolk uniform on April 30 with a 7-2 victory over Johnson & Wales University. In his 16 seasons with the Rams, McConnell posts a record of 403-222-2 (.642 winning percentage). McConnell is no stranger to the postseason as this will be his tenth playoff appearance with the Rams, which also includes four NCAA Tournament appearances.
Cintolo was one of eight Rams to earn All-Conference selection by the GNAC. Along with his second team All-Conference selection, Cintolo was also named the league's Rookie of the Year. Senior Alex Torres (Framingham, Mass.) was named GNAC Pitcher of the Year and a first team All-Conference selection. Seniors Mark Annese (Winchester, Mass.), Charles Kilgore (Milford, N.H.), Mark Addesa (Revere, Mass.), Andrew Babb (Ashland, Mass.), Nick Travelyn (Bedford, N.H.) and freshman Devan Jones (Roslindale, Mass.) also earned postseason accolades from the league.
In four previous ECAC Tournament appearances, Wentworth is 3-4, which includes advancing to last season's championship game. Wednesday's game will mark the 15th all-time meeting between the two schools, but the first since the 1999 season. Suffolk, which has won the last three meetings between the two schools, holds an 11-3 series lead.
2011 ECAC DIVISION III NEW ENGLAND BASEBALL TOURNAMENT
First Round (Wednesday, May 11)
(8) Becker (22-11) at (1) Endicott (30-15), 4:00 p.m.
(5) Suffolk (22-20) at (4) Wentworth (24-15), 3:00 p.m.
(3) Worcester State (23-14) at (6) Coast Guard (20-15), 3:00 p.m.
(7) Anna Maria (24-19) at (2) Brandeis (24-18), 3:30 p.m.
Semifinals (Saturday, May 14 – at higher seeds)
Endicott/Becker winner vs Wentworth/Suffolk winner, TBA; Brandeis/Anna Maria winner vs Worcester State/Coast Guard winner, TBA
Finals (Sunday, May 15 – at higher remaining seed)
Semifinal winners, TBA
(Portions of this story were taken from Wentworth Athletics website)