Presidents will host NCAA baseball regional
While his players were mugging for pictures with the Presidents’ Athletic Conference championship trophy and banner on the infield Saturday evening, Washington & Jefferson head baseball coach Jeff Mountain stood in front of the third-base dugout watching the celebration and was already focused on the upcoming NCAA regionals.
As W&J athletic director Scott McGuiness approached and Mountain asked, “When do we leave? Thursday?”
McGuiness replied, “Leave Wednesday. Practice day Thursday.”
You cancel those travel plans.
The NCAA announced Monday that W&J and Ross Memorial Park will host a four-team double-elimination regional of the Division III tournament that begins Friday.
W&J (32-11) will be making its 12th appearance in the NCAA field. The Presidents will host red-hot University of Chicago (27-13). The Maroons have won 16 consecutive games. Chicago received the University Athletic Association’s automatic berth.
The other first-round game in the regional is Bridgewater (33-13) against Scranton (28-15). Bridgewater received an at-large berth after losing in the finals of the Old Dominion Athletic Conference tournament. Scranton won the Landmark Conference tournament championship.
Scranton will play Bridgewater in the regional’s opening game at 11 a.m. Friday. The W&J-Chicago game is scheduled for 2:30 p.m.