New England Region Tournament Information
The Westfield State College baseball team will play Trinity (Conn.) College in an opening round game of the NCAA Division III New England Region Tournament on Wednesday, May 13, at 4:30.
The New England regional is being hosted by Eastern Connecticut State University at Eastern Baseball Stadium in Mansfield, Conn. Two years ago the Owls were shipped to the New York Region in Ithaca, N.Y., for the NCAA Tournament.
New England is being billed as the strongest region in the nation with three of the top-ranked teams in NCAA Division III. Eastern Connecticut (35-6) is the No. 1 seed, followed by No. 2 Southern Maine (35-7), No. 3 Trinity (29-5), No. 4 WPI (28-11), No. 5 Suffolk (30-9), No. 6 Westfield (23-15), No. 7 Husson (31-12) and No. 8 Babson (21-15).
The other New England team participating in the NCAA Tournament is Western New England College, which was placed in the New York Region at Farmingdale State on Long Island. Westfield defeated WNEC, 4-0, this season.
Trinity is the defending NCAA champion and defeated Westfield twice in Florida by scores of 9-4 and 13-4. Westfield also lost to Suffok, 9-8, in Florida, but the Owls topped WPI, 14-8, on April 1, two days after WPI had beaten Trinity.
The regional tournament is a five-day, double elimination setup, with the champion advancing to the NCAA Division IIi World Series in Appleton, Wisconsin. Video stream and live stats will be provided for all tournament games. For complete tournament details go to: New England Region Tournament.
Westfield claimed the MASCAC postseason tournament championship with a nail-biting 4-3 victory over Worcester State. The Owls were seeded fourth for the MASCAC tournament, finishing conference regular season play with a 7-7 record.
The Owls notched their third straight 20-win season and are led by three junior all-conference selections: shortstop Ben Wagner (Cumberland, R.I.), first baseman Ben Campbell (Easthampton, Mass.) and second baseman Jeff Fields (Pittsfield, Mass.).
Campbell, a transfer from Holyoke Community College, is hitting .343 with a .545 slugging percentage (12 doubles, 4 triples, 3 home runs). He ranks second in the MASCAC with 44 runs batted in.
Fields, a second-team all-conference honoree in 2008, is batting .339 for the NCAA Tournament bound Owls. Fields has scored 39 runs and has drawn 26 walks for a .477 on-base percentage. He has 12 stolen bases in 12 attempts.
Wagner is the Owls' Mr. Consistency. The versatile infielder was a second-team MASCAC selection for the third straight year. His junior year he played third base for the Owls and his freshman year he was an all-conference second baseman and the MASCAC rookie of the year.
Wagner leads the Owls and ranks third in the MASCAC with a .386 batting average. He also leads the team with 27 walks, 54 hits, and a .491 on-base percentage. He is tied with Fields for team-high honors in runs scored (39) and has stolen 10 bases in 11 attempts.
Junior fleet center fielder Mike Trachtenberg (Newton, Mass.) is hitting .331 with a team-high 16 stolen bases. Junior slugger Kevin Lyons (Braintree, Mass.) is batting .330 with 26 RBI. He was named MVP of the conference tournament.
Junior Jesse Vermeersch (Marlboro, Mass.) leads the Owls with a 5-1 pitching record and 29 striketouts.