Wesleyan Earns Playoff Berth for First Time Since 2005

HADLEY, Mass. – After securing the top seed in the West Division with an 8-5 win over rival Amherst on Sunday, Williams College will host the 2009 NESCAC Baseball Championship from May 8-10 in Williamstown, Mass. The Ephs, who already have two conference crowns to their credit, will face Tufts on Friday afternoon, while defending NESCAC and NCAA champion Trinity will take on rival Wesleyan. The double-elimination tournament continues on Saturday, May 9 and concludes on Sunday, May 10 at 10:00 a.m.

Williams (24-10, 9-3 NESCAC West) knew heading into the final weekend of the regular season that it had secured a spot in the NESCAC Baseball Championship for the fourth year in a row, however it needed a victory over Amherst on Sunday in order to lock up hosting duties. The Ephs did just that, outlasting the Lord Jeffs 8-5 and earning the top seed in the West. Since falling in a doubleheader against Amherst on April 11, Williams has posted a 13-3 record, going 4-2 in its last six games. The Ephs will look to become the first team to win three league championships, as their previous two titles came in 2001 and in 2007 - the last two times Williams hosted the tournament. Williams made an early exit from the playoffs at Trinity last year, falling to Tufts 1-0 before losing a roller-coaster affair to Amherst in 10 innings, 9-8. Against the field, the Ephs are 2-1, having only faced Wesleyan in divisional play on April 25-26.

Meeting the Ephs in game one on Friday will be Tufts (17-17, 7-5 NESCAC East). Tufts tied Bowdoin in the East Division at 7-5 this season, but the Jumbos were able to capture a playoff berth thanks to a 2-1 record against the Polar Bears on April 17-18. The Jumbos went 5-2 over their last seven games to close out the regular season, splitting a series against Babson on Sunday with a 5-2 setback in game one before bouncing back with an 11-4 victory in game two. Tufts joins Williams as having reached the tournament more times than any other NESCAC team, appearing in seven of the previous eight championships. The Jumbos’ only tournament title came during a rain-shortened 2002 event, as they have advanced to the conference final on four occasions in playoff history. The only opponent in this year’s championship Tufts has seen is Trinity. The Jumbos went 0-3 against the Bantams on April 4-5 in Hartford, Conn., as they were out-scored by a 21-7 margin in the three-game series.

Trinity (26-5, 12-0 NESCAC East) picked up right where it left off last season. After a record-setting 2008 campaign with a 45-1 overall mark, the defending NESCAC and NCAA champs went 8-2 over spring break and rolled to a second consecutive 12-0 record in conference play this year. Like the Ephs, the Bantams have a shot at becoming the first team to win three league titles (2003, 2008) and at first glance appear to have a good chance at completing the feat. Trinity leads the conference in multiple statistical categories, holding a league-leading .362 batting average and .466 on-base percentage while recording a league-low 3.42 ERA. After missing out on the NESCAC championship for two-straight years, the Bantams returned last spring and downed Amherst twice along with Tufts once for the 2008 crown. Trinity battled both Tufts and Wesleyan during the regular season slate, going 3-0 against the Jumbos on April 4-5 before splitting a non-conference set against the Cardinals on Sunday, winning the first game 9-5 before falling 7-6 in the second.

Looking to make it two-in-a-row against Trinity will be Wesleyan (19-14, 7-5 NESCAC West), as the Cardinals will face the Bantams for the third time in less than seven days. The pieces all fell into place for the Cardinals during the final weekend of the regular season. A 9-6 win at Middlebury in Saturday’s make-up contest from an April 3 rain out combined with two Amherst losses put Wesleyan into the tournament for the first time since 2005 due to the Cardinals holding the head-to-head advantage over the Lord Jeffs. Wesleyan enters the weekend at 4-1 over its last five games, most recently earning the aforementioned split against Trinity on Sunday in Hartford, Conn. Against the 2009 tournament teams, the Cardinals are 2-3, going 1-2 against Williams on April 25-26 in divisional play. Interestingly enough, Wesleyan has faced all three of these teams in its only two appearances in the NESCAC championship. The Cardinals are 1-0 against Tufts and Williams in tournament competition while going 0-4 when facing Trinity, as the Bantams eliminated Wesleyan in 2002 and again in 2005.

2009 NESCAC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP
Day 1 - Friday, May 8
Game 1 - E2 Tufts at W1 Williams - 3:00 p.m.
Game 2 - W2 Wesleyan vs. E1 Trinity - 3:00 p.m.

Day 2 - Saturday, May 9
Game 3 - Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 - 10:30 a.m.
Game 4 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 - 10:30 a.m.
Game 5 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 - 2:30 p.m.

Day 3 - Sunday, May 10
Game 6 - Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 - 10:00 a.m.
Game 7 - If Necessary - Immediately Following