ITHACA, N.Y. -- The baseball team (29-11) has been chosen to host the NCAA New York regional tournament from Wednesday through Monday at Falcon Park in Auburn. The Bombers are seeded second and will play their first game Wednesday at 7:45 p.m.
Ticket prices are $3 for general admission and $2 for students/senior citizens and children under 12.
Wednesday, May 14
Game 1: #4 Montclair State vs. #5 Eastern Connecticut State, 10 a.m.
Game 2: #1 Cortland vs. #8 Grove City, 1:15 p.m.
Game 3: #3 Rensselaer vs. #6 Farmingdale, 4:30 p.m.
Game 4: #2 Ithaca vs. #7 Ohio Wesleyan, 7:45 p.m.
Thursday, May 15
Game 5: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 6: Game 3 loser vs. Game 4 loser, 1:15 p.m.
Game 7: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 4:30 p.m.
Game 8: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 winner, 7:45 p.m.
Friday, May 16
Game 9: Game 6 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 10 a.m.
Game 10: Game 5 winner vs. Game 8 loser, 1:15 p.m.
Game 11: Game 7 winner vs. Game 8 winner, 4:30 p.m.
Game 12: Game 9 winner vs. Game 10 winner, 7:45 p.m.
Saturday, May 17
Game 13: Game 12 winner vs. Game 11 loser, 1 p.m.
Game 14: Game 11 winner vs, Game 13 winner, 5 p.m.
Sunday, May 18
Game 15 (if necessary): Game 14 winner vs. game 14 loser, 1 p.m.
ITHACA’S INVITATION: The Ithaca College baseball team (29-11) has been selected for the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Bombers are seeded second in the eight-team New York Regional, which Ithaca will host at Auburn’s Falcon Park from Wednesday, May 14 to Sunday, May 18. Ithaca’s first game will be Wednesday against seventh-seeded Ohio Wesleyan (20-15) at 7:45 p.m. Wednesday’s first three games feature fourth-seeded Montclair State (26-18) vs. fifth-seeded Eastern Connecticut State (29-13-1) at 10 a.m., top-seeded Cortland (38-3) vs. eighth-seeded Grove City (18-16) at 1:15 p.m. and third-seeded Rensselaer (31-10) against sixth-seeded Farmingdale (26-16) at 4:30 p.m. The double-elimination tournament continues on Thursday, Friday, Saturday and Sunday. Monday, May 19 is the rain date. Ticket prices are $3 general admission and $2 for senior citizens and students.
ITHACA SERIES RESULTS: The Bombers posted a 3-1 record this spring against the rest of the New York Regional field, beating Eastern Connecticut (9-4) and posting a pair of wins against Montclair State (12-0 and 5-4) and losing to Cortland (9-5). The Bombers' all-time records against the field are 77-32-1 against Cortland (including a 4-12 record in NCAA playoff competition); 10-14 against Eastern Connecticut State (including a 10-13 mark in the NCAA playoffs), 17-14-1 against Montclair State (including 3-2 in the NCAA playoffs), 1-2 against Ohio Wesleyan and 64-23 against Rensselaer (with an 8-7 record in the NCAA playoffs). Ithaca has never faced Farmingdale or Grove City.
ITHACA vs. 2008 NCAA PLAYOFF FIELD: The Bombers faced three other NCAA playoff teams this spring, losing to Chapman (4-3), La Verne (9-5) and Penn State Behrend (6-5).
ITHACA IN THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Bombers are making their 32nd appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs – more than any other school – and 42nd NCAA playoff appearance overall. The Bombers are 95-65 in Division III playoff games and 123-81 overall. Ithaca has appeared in all but one NCAA tournament since the inception of Division III; since then only Marietta has played in more games or won more games than the Bombers. Ithaca has reached the Division III World Series 11 times, winning national titles in 1980 and 1988 and placing second in 1976, 1981 and 1986. The Bombers also played in the College World Series once (1962) and the College Division World Series once (1973). In Coach George Valesente’s 29 years, Ithaca has played in 28 NCAA tournaments, reached the Division III World Series nine times and won two national titles.
THE 2008 PLAYOFFS: The Division III championship provides for a 54-team playoff field. The 54 teams include 34 winners of conferences whose champions have been awarded automatic qualification (including State University of New York Athletic Conference champion Cortland, Skyline Conference champion Farmingdale, Presidents’ Athletic Conference champion Grove City,
North Coast Athletic Conference champion Ohio Wesleyan and Liberty League champion Rensselaer), 14 teams from those 33 conferences who did not win their conference championship (including Eastern Connecticut from the Little East Conference and Montclair State from the New Jersey Athletic Conference) and six teams that are either independents or members of conferences whose champions do not receive automatic bids (including Ithaca from the Empire 8). Seven other double-elimination regional tournaments are being held this week (hosted by Augustana (Ill.) College, the Eastern College Athletic Conference, Kean University, McMurry University, the Old Dominion Athletic Conference, Rose-Hulman Institute of Technology and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The eight regional winners advance to the national finals, a double-elimination tournament to be held Friday, May 25 through Tuesday, May 29 in Appleton, Wis.
ABOUT ITHACA: The Bombers won their ninth straight Empire 8 title with a 15-1 record. Ithaca’s pitching staff ranks 11th nationally in ERA (3.29) and eighth in strikeouts per nine innings (8.7). Seniors Nick Sottung (8-1, 1.57 ERA) and Shane Wolf (10-1, 2.80) and junior Bryan Gardner (2-1, seven saves, 1.48) were all first-team Empire 8 all-stars. Gardner, the league’s Pitcher of the Year, has tied the school record with seven saves. Sottung is Ithaca’s career leader with 31 wins and 245 strikeouts. Wolf, 16-2 since transferring to Ithaca, is the fourth Bomber to win 10 games in a season. Sophomore Tom Fishback and junior Pete MacDaniel have combined to win seven games. Ithaca’s top batting average belongs to freshman third baseman David Ahonen, the Empire 8 Rookie of the Year. A .432 hitter, he’s stolen 11 bases and leads the team with 57 hits (14 for extra bases) and a .480 slugging percentage. Senior outfielder Rob Raux bats .409 with 32 RBI’s and team-best totals of seven home runs, 16 stolen bases and a .693 slugging percentage. He’s four hits and two RBI’s away from becoming Ithaca’s all-time leader in both categories. Junior catcher Drew Ash is batting .364 with three home runs and 30 RBI’s. Ash, Ahonen and Raux were all first-team Empire 8 all-stars. Senior shortstop Josh Smith, senior outfielder Eric Ferguson and junior outfielder Matt Samela were second-team picks. Smith (.356, four home runs) leads the team with 35 RBI’s. Ferguson is a .315 hitter and Samela (.324) has stolen bases. Head coach George Valesente won the 900th game of his career during the season and was named Empire 8 Coach of the Year.