Indianapolis, IN --- The Worcester State baseball team has been slotted as the seventh seed in the Harwich Regional and will take on second-seeded Southern Maine at 8 PM in the first round of the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament on Wednesday hosted by the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) at Whitehouse Field.
The double-elimination bracket also includes fourth-seeded Endicott and #5 MIT doing battle in the early 9:30 AM contest, top-seeded Eastern Connecticut against #8 Mitchell at 1 PM and #3 Tufts facing off against sixth-seeded St. Joseph's (Maine) at 4:30 PM.
The regional champion will earn a spot in the Division III Baseball College World Series during the week of May 23-27 in Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin.
The Lancers (25-15) enjoyed an outstanding campaign that included sharing their seventh MASCAC Regular Season title and earning their fifth conference tournament crown this past Monday in a 5-3 victory over Salem State. They are making their sixth appearance in the NCAA Tournament and fifth under the guidance of 19th year head coach Dr. Dirk Baker.
WSU is propelled by the bat of junior David Ruggiero (Peabody, MA) who is fourth in the MASCAC with a .396 average, while he also leading the Lancers in doubles (9), triples (5), slugging percentage (.562) and on base percentage (.434).
Freshman Adam Barry (Auburn, MA/Holy Name) and junior Jeff Bolio (Oxford, MA) have brought power to the middle of the Blue and Gold line-up. Both have three home runs to their credit on the season while Barry has a .323 clip with 42 hits, six doubles and a club-best 28 RBIs to go with just six strikeouts in 130 at-bats. Bolio is batting .327 with 26 runs, 23 RBI, 55 total bases and a .514 slugging percentage.
At the top of the rotation, junior Ben Libuda (Auburn, MA) has gone 5-2 with a 2.25 earned run average to go with 13 earned runs in 52.0 innings as freshman Kris Doyle (Millbury, MA) has a 6-3 mark with two shutouts, and 33 strikeouts in 54.0 frames of work.
Junior Joe Perlak (Chicopee, MA) is the all-around utility pitcher with a 5-0 record, 14 appearances with 32 strikeouts in 39 innings. Classmate Michael Ivas (Princeton, MA/Holy Name) also has fanned 17 in 14 stanzas for the Lancers.
Southern Maine (31-12) earned an at-large berth to the NCAA Division III Tournament after finishing the season as the Little East Conference Tournament runners-up. The Huskies earned their 21st berth to the NCAAs since 1987 and were one game away from winning their third National Championship after claiming the 2013 Harwich Regional crown.
Seven regular starters are batting over .300 or better for one of the most potent offenses in New England.
Sophomore Sam Dexter (Oakland, ME) leads the squad with a .376 average to go with 65 hits while senior Forest Chadwick (Gardiner, ME) is hitting .321 with five homers, 44 runs batted in and 55 runs scored to go with 12 stolen bases. Fourth-year Chris Bernard (Scarborough, ME) also has three dingers, 20 doubles and 42 plated runs.
Sophomore Tyler Leavitt (N. Andover, MA) paces the Huskies with a 7-3 record, permitting 16 earned runs in 55.0 innings for a 2.62 ERA as classmate Skyler Scates (Jefferson, ME) also boasts a 6-3 slate with a 3.91 ERA in 53.0 frames.
Junior Andrew Richards (S. Portland, ME) leads the club in innings with a 4-0 record and six saves in 26 appearances to go with 41 strikeouts in 65 frames.
The Huskies actually swept Worcester State by scores of 2-1 and 3-0 at Henley Field in Lakeland, Florida on March 20.
With Libuda and Doyle on the hill in both contests for the Lancers, Leavitt earned the win and Richards got out of a bases loaded jam in the sixth to preserve the victory with a stop. Freshman Nick George (Peabody, MA) tossed one-hitter in the nightcap for USM.
Against the rest of the field, the only other opponent WSU has taken on this season was Endicott, who blanked the Lancers 2-0 on March 27. The Blue and Gold are 5-6 all-time against MIT and have three wins in 22 matchups against Eastern Connecticut while never playing Tufts or Mitchell.
Worcester State is also 1-1 against St. Joseph's, with a hard 13 inning setback in an elimination game on the second day at the Mansfield Regional during the 2011 campaign, the last time the Lancers were at the NCAAs.
Livestats and video will be available for the duration of the Harwich Regional which runs until Saturday with rain dates of Sunday and Monday. General admission to Whitehouse Field is $5.
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