Bucknell & Bethune Cookman Claim Conference Crowns

Teams Lock-Up NCAA Bids

Worcester, Mass. – Patriot League Tournament Most Valuable Player Doug Shribman belted a three-run home run in the seventh inning of game three to give Bucknell the lead for good and the Bison completed a sweep of Saturday’s contests over Holy Cross to win the Patriot League Baseball Championship at Fitton Field.

After losing game one, 8-7, on Friday, Bucknell mounted a comeback by claiming a 4-3 victory in game two and rallying from a 6-3 deficit for a 12-7 victory in the winner-take-all game three to complete the Saturday sweep. The Bison became the first road team to win the Patriot League Championship series after losing the first game, and only the third to make that comeback overall.

Bucknell (25-33) earns the Patriot League’s automatic berth to the NCAA Regionals, and will now await its opponent and destination when the field is announced on May 31.

It is the fifth Patriot League title for the Bison, tying Army and Navy for the most in League annals. They won it all for the second time in the past three years, also claiming the crown as the first No. 4 seed in the field in 2008.

Holy Cross (26-26) was playing in the Championship round for the first time.

The Bison set multiple offensive records for the Patriot League Tournament, but none were more impressive than Shribman’s performance. He belted seven home runs and totaled 16 RBIs in the six games, including a pair of three-run home runs in game three.

For more information on the entire Patriot League Tournament, including box scores from Saturday’s games, visit the Championship page

Shribman was joined by 10 other players on the All-Tournament Team, which is listed below.

Patriot League Baseball All-Tournament Team

Bucknell junior first baseman Doug Shribman (Tournament MVP)
Bucknell senior outfielder Andrew Brouse
Bucknell senior second baseman Ben Yoder
Bucknell sophomore relief pitcher Ryan Ebner
Holy Cross senior third baseman Matt Perry
Holy Cross freshman catcher Stephen Wadsworth
Holy Cross sophomore starting pitcher Nate Koneski
Army junior outfielder/starting pitcher Ben Koenigsfeld
Army junior first baseman/relief pitcher Kevin McKague
Lehigh senior starting pitcher Andrew Berger
Lehigh senior starting pitcher Ken Longernecker

(Courtesy Patriot League)

Bethune-Cookman Wins MEAC Championship

Daytona Beach, Fla., May 23, 2010- Bethune-Cookman won its fifth consecutive Mid-Eastern Athletic Conference (MEAC) Baseball title with a 7-4 victory over the North Carolina A&T Aggies at the Jackie Robinson Ballpark on Sunday afternoon.

The championship game will air in a tape-delayed broadcast on ESPNU, Monday, May 24 at 5 p.m.

Bethune-Cookman junior DJ Leonard earned Outstanding Tournament Performer honors.

Head Coach Mervyl Melendez was named the Outstanding Tournament Coach for the tenth time in his career.

Bethune-Cookman (35-20) jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning when Jeremy Davis doubled to score Justin Hoyte. Davis then scored on a DJ Leonard double to left field.

Alejandro Sanchez scored in the second on a Juan Perez single to increase the Wildcats lead to 3-0 lead.

North Carolina A&T (31-26) came back in the fourth and scored two runs to bring the Aggies to within one. Marquis Riley scored on a Mark Nales single and Kelvin Freeman scored when Dario Little was walked by B-CU pitcher Roman Lancara with the bases loaded.

In the bottom of the fifth, Bethune-Cookman attacked again with a Davis tripled to right field. Ryan Durrence followed with a fly out left field to score Davis. Sanchez hit a solo home run in the sixth to extend the Wildcat lead 5-2.

The Aggies attempted a comeback in the seventh when Nick Rogers scored off a Freeman single.

Bethune-Cookman added two runs in the seventh and North Carolina A&T responded with one more run in the eighth for the final score of 7-4.
Roman Lancara (4-2), who pitched for the first time this season against MEAC competition, earned the victory. He allowed seven hits, two runs and struck out four in six innings of work.

Nick Oelker (5-6) took the loss for the Aggies in 6.1 innings, allowing 11 hits, seven runs and six strikeouts.

With the win, Bethune-Cookman earned the conference’s automatic qualification to the NCAA Baseball Championship. The pairings will be announced on Monday, May 31 at 12:30 p.m. on ESPN.

2010 MEAC Baseball All-Tournament Team

Nick Rogers, North Carolina A&T
DJ Leonard, Bethune-Cookman
Kelvin Freeman, North Carolina A&T
Jeremy Davis, Bethune-Cookman
Alejandro Sanchez, Bethune-Cookman
Sammy Serefine, Norfolk State
Phil Vaughn, Maryland Eastern Shore
Esterlin Paulino, North Carolina A&T
George Hines, North Carolina A&T
Nick Oelker, North Carolina A&T
Dwight Robinson, Coppin State

Outstanding Performer: DJ Leonard, Bethune-Cookman

Outstanding Coach: Mervyl Melendez, Bethune-Cookman

2010 NCAA Baseball Tournament Automatic Qualifiers

30 conference champions earn automatic berths into the field of 64 in the 2010 NCAA Division One baseball tournament.  We will list them as they secure their bids.

CLICK HERE to see the NCAA selection handbook, which includes at-large selection criteria and more information.

NCAA Tournament Selection Timeline

America East-Stony Brook

ACC:  Florida State

Atlantic Sun:  Mercer

Atlantic 10-St. Louis

Big East-St. John’s

Big South-Coastal Carolina

Big Ten-Minnesota

Big 12-Texas A&M

Big West-Cal State Fullerton

CAA-Virginia Commonwealth

CUSA-Southern Mississippi

Horizon:  Wisconsin-Milwaukee

Ivy League-Dartmouth

MAAC-Rider

MAC-Kent State

MEAC-Bethune-Cookman

Missouri Valley-Illinois State (Won First Ever Tournament)

Mountain West-TCU

Northeast-Central Connecticut St.

Ohio Valley-Jacksonville St.

Pac 10-Arizona State

Patriot League-Bucknell

SEC-LSU

Southern-The Citadel

Southland-Texas St.

SWAC-Grambling St.

Summit League-Oral Roberts (Won 13th straight tournament)

Sun Belt-Florida International

WCC-San Diego

WAC-Hawaii (First title since 1992)

West Virginia 2010 Baseball Schedule

MORGANTOWN, W.Va. – West Virginia University Director of Athletics Ed Pastilong has announced the 2010 baseball schedule, highlighted by 32 home games and five matchups against 2009 NCAA Tournament participants.

“Coach Greg Van Zant has put together one of his most competitive schedules to date,” Pastilong said. “We are looking forward to another year of exciting baseball that features several quality opponents and some very challenging early-season tournaments.”

West Virginia opens the season with three competitive tournaments. The Mountaineers start off with the Caravelle Resort Tournament in Conway, S.C., featuring games against 2009 NCAA Tournament qualifier Coastal Carolina, Kentucky and Virginia Tech on Feb. 19-21.

WVU then makes a trip to the second annual Big Ten/BIG EAST Challenge in Clearwater/St. Petersburg, Fla., from Feb.

26-March 1. West Virginia will compete against reigning Big Ten champion Indiana, Iowa, Michigan State and will play an additional game against Purdue.

Complete 2010 West Virginia Schedule

The final early-season tournament is the Keith LeClair Classic in Greenville, N.C., from March 5-7. West Virginia faces Western Carolina, then battles 2009 Super Regional qualifier East Carolina before finishing with Illinois.

“All three of our tournaments are ranked as some of the top tournaments in the country,” Van Zant said. “We’re going to see some real good teams early in the season, and we’re looking forward to playing against them. We’re really going to be challenged these first 10 games.”

The Mountaineers make a return trip to Charleston, W.Va., to play Eastern Kentucky in the Mountaineer Diamond Classic at Appalachian Power Park on April 13. Last season’s contest in Southern West Virginia against Kentucky featured a capacity crowd of 2,452 that saw WVU defeat the Wildcats, 10-7.

“We always look forward to playing in our state capital,” Van Zant added. “Last year we had a great turnout and a huge win over Kentucky. We can’t wait to return to Charleston and play a different opponent in Eastern Kentucky, which is a strong program out of the Ohio Valley Conference.”

WVU’s Big East schedule includes five home series against NCAA Super Regional qualifier Louisville (April 16-18), Notre Dame (May 8-9), Big East postseason runner-up Connecticut (April 1-3), Pitt (April 23-25) and Villanova (May 20-22). The Mountaineers will play Seton Hall (March 26-28), St. John’s (April 9-11), Cincinnati (April 30-May 2) and Georgetown (May 14-16) on the road.

“The Big East schedule is always difficult, and this year we’ve got five of our opponents at home,” Van Zant mentioned. “It’s a big plus to have that extra weekend at home and all our games in the conference will be tough. We do feel that we have a real attractive home schedule.”

Also mixed into the non-conference portion is another matchup against Atlantic Coast Conference rival Maryland on April 7 in College Park, Md. The Mountaineers and Terrapins have played each other in five of the last eight seasons.

WVU plays host to a two-game series against defending MEAC champion and NCAA Tournament participant Bethune-Cookman from May 11-12.

West Virginia finished 37-18 last season, its best overall mark since 1998. The Mountaineers finished third in the BIG EAST and amassed 17 conference victories, its second-most since joining the BIG EAST in 1996.

Last year’s squad also set school records for batting average (.360), RBIs (491), doubles (161), extra base hits (242) and runs scored (525).

(Release)