CAMBRIDGE, Mass. – A year after qualifying for the postseason for the first time in program history, the Lesley University baseball team will return to the New England Collegiate Conference Championship Tournament this weekend as they vie for their first-ever NECC title.
The Lynx, who finished the year with a 14-21 overall record and an even 9-9 mark in conference action, will play as the No. 3 seed and battle No. 2 Elms College (17-15, 10-8 NECC) on day one of the double-elimination tournament. First pitch is slated for 3:00p on Friday.
No. 1 seed and host Mitchell College (28-4, 16-2 NECC) will go up against No. 4 seed Becker College (15-19, 9-9 NECC) in the first game of tournament play on Friday at 11:00a.
Live stats and video links for all tournament games can be found here.
2015 NECC Tournament Schedule
Friday, May 8
Game 1: No. 4 Becker vs. No. 1 Mitchell, 11:00 a.m.
Game 2: No. 3 Lesley vs. No. 2 Elms, 3:00 p.m.
Saturday, May 9
Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser, 10:00 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner, 1:00 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser, 4:00 p.m.
Sunday, May 10
Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner, 11:00 a.m.
Game 7: If Necessary, 2:00 p.m.
Scouting Mitchell (28-4, 16-2 NECC):
The Mariners are currently ranked sixth in the New England Intercollegiate Baseball Association Division III Coaches Poll and are looking to capture their second straight NECC Championship. Juniors Tyler Shamas and Al Jordan Johnson are ranked 1-2 in the NECC in ERA as they boast a 1.20 and 1.39 clip, respectively, while combining for a perfect 15-0 record. Senior Kenneth Olszewski finished third in the NECC with a .402 average to lead a Mariner offense that paced the NECC with 272 runs scored. Mitchell swept the three game series over Lesley.
Scouting Elms (17-15, 10-8 NECC):
Sophomore Jordan Zima paces the Blazers offense as he finished second in the NECC with a .424 batting average in 32 games. The first baseman registered 50 hits on the year, including eight doubles, one triple, one home run, while scoring 23 runs, and knocking in 22. Juniors Tom Weldon and Andrew Sadowski lead a strong pitching staff that finished second in the conference with a 3.92 combined ERA. Weldon earned six wins on the season while striking out an NECC-high 58 batters in 54 innings pitched. Sadowski followed Weldon on the Blazers with five wins and a 3.29 ERA in 52 innings of work. Elms took two out of three games against the Lynx in 2015.
Scouting Lesley (14-21, 9-9 NECC):
The Lynx are riding into the tournament on a hot streak as they have won six of their last eight games, including a postseason clinching, 6-4 comeback win over Daniel Webster College on Monday. Senior leadoff hitter Rob Parson (Commack, N.Y.) is at the center of Lesley offense as he leads the team in batting average (.379), runs scored (26), triples (3), stolen bases (10), home runs (1), and is tied for the team lead in RBI (20). Freshman hurler Tom Muratore (Mamaroneck, N.Y.) leads the pitching staff as he ranks fourth in the NECC in ERA (2.14), third in wins (6), second in strikeouts (53), third in innings pitched (59), and first in complete games (6).
Scouting Becker (15-19, 9-9 NECC):
Sophomore Tyler Wagar earned his fourth win in a 6-2 victory for Becker over Mitchell on May 3rd to clinch a postseason spot for the Hawks in the regular season finale. Wagar led the Hawks staff in wins (4), ERA (4.21), innings pitched (57.2), strikeouts (43), and complete games (5). Sophomore Niko Bedell leads a powerful Hawks offense as he batted an NECC-best .444 while leading the conference with eight home runs. Classmate TJ Sempkowski followed Bedell with a .389 batting average. As a team, the Hawks led the conference with 20 home runs. Lesley swept the three game series over the Hawks.