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2024 NCAA Baseball Regionals Preview

5/16/2024 10:00:00 AM

The Rundown

The ninth-ranked Salisbury University baseball team's run toward a fourth straight College World Series berth will begin just outside of Boston. The Sea Gulls will head to Wellesley, Mass., for the four-team, double-elimination Babson Park Regional of the 2024 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament beginning on Friday, May 17. SU will joust with UMass Dartmouth at 10 a.m. that day, followed by a showdown between host Babson and Mitchell at 1:30 p.m.

The #d3baseball bracket is here! ????

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— NCAA Division III (@NCAADIII) May 13, 2024

Tournament Schedule

Friday, May 17

Game 1 - Salisbury vs. UMass Dartmouth - 10 a.m.

Game 2 - Babson vs. Mitchell - 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 18

Game 3 - G1 Winner vs. G2 Winner - 8:30 a.m.

Game 4 - G1 Loser vs. G2 Loser - 12 p.m.

Game 5 - G3 Loser vs. G4 Winner - 3:30 p.m.

Sunday, May 19 - Regional Finals

Game 6 - G3 Winner vs. G5 Winner - 11 a.m.

Game 7 - If Necessary Game - 45 min. following

Live Video

Live Stats

Regional Page

NCAA Tournament Info

The 2024 Sea Gulls

#22 Cole Williams | Fr. RHP | C2C Rookie of the Year

#21 Andrew Kell | Jr. OF | C2C Player of the Year

#2 Danny Sheeler | Sr. 1B | 2x All-C2C First Team

#33 Tim Petrucelli | Gr. OF | All-C2C First Team

Salisbury finished the regular season with a 28-9 record. The Sea Gulls won 10 straight games from Mar. 7-22 and put together a six-gamer from Apr. 13-24.
SU has gone 7-5 against teams that made the NCAA Tournament field, picking up wins against Cortland (x3), Penn State Harrisburg (x2), Johns Hopkins, and Christopher Newport, with losses to Lynchburg, Denison, Catholic, Randolph-Macon, and CNU.
Salisbury went 9-3 in games decided by two runs or fewer, including 5-1 in one-run games.
The Sea Gulls extended the second-longest NCAA Tournament streak in Division III by qualifying for its 24th consecutive dance dating back to 2000. Only Cortland (31) holds a streak longer than SU's.
Outfielder Andrew Kell became the fourth straight Sea Gull to garner C2C Player of the Year (Justin Meekins ‘21, Kavi Caster ’22, Danny Sheeler '23).
Right-hander Cole Williams was named C2C Rookie of the Year, while infielder/outfielder Adam Tommer took home C2C Scholar-Athlete of the Year.
Salisbury placed five players on the All-C2C First Team: catcher Dylan Winebrenner, first baseman Danny Sheeler, second baseman Kyle Brex, and outfielders Andrew Kell and Tim Petrucelli.
Shortstop Trent Waire and relief pitchers Garrett Beaver, Ethan Hirschfeld, and Shawn Rosemond were recognized as All-C2C Honorable Mention.
Salisbury boasts the C2C's best offense in several categories, batting a league-best .322 with 337 runs (9.1 per game), 38 home runs, 305 RBIs, and 67 stolen bases.
Andrew Kell leads the C2C with a .509 batting average and is ranked third in stolen bases (11), tied for third in home runs (6), and fourth in RBIs (43).
Tim Petrucelli's 11 home runs are four more than the rest of the field; he is also tied for second in the league in RBIs (47) and ranks third in average (.377).
A trio of Sea Gulls (Kell, Danny Sheeler, Dylan Winebrenner) are tied for third in the C2C with six homers apiece. Winebrenner's .352 batting average is good for fifth.
SU holds the second-through-fifth positions in the C2C in steals, lead by Kyle Brex (12) and followed by Kell (11), Adam Tommer (10), and Sheeler (9).
Cole Williams is ranked second in the league in wins (8), while Shawn Rosemond (6) is tied for fourth.
Garrett Beaver (2.89) and Ethan Hirschfeld (3.33) sport the third- and fourth-best qualifying ERAs, respectively, in the league.
Aidan Brinsfield's 44 strikeouts are good for fourth in the conference.
Beaver (3) and Rosemond (2) are each ranked top-five in saves.
Salisbury ranks third in Division III in on-base percentage (.444) and also holds top-40 marks in batting average (.322), runs per game (9.1), slugging average (.500), walks (223), hits allowed per nine innings (8.67), home runs per game (1.03), sac bunts (37), and WHIP (1.34).
Andrew Kell owns the nation's best batting average at .509, 40 points higher than the rest of the field. He also ranks third in on-base percentage (.599), 12th in slugging (.839), 36th in doubles per game (0.44).
One of the nation's top freshman arms, Cole Williams slots 20th in pitching appearances (21) and 22nd in wins (8).
Danny Sheeler ranks 11th in walks per game (1.03), and 21st in total walks (38).
Tim Petrucelli's .739 slugging percentage and 11 dingers slot 41st and 46th, respectively.
Garrett Beaver's 5.54 hits allowed per nine innings ranks 15th nationally; he is also top-200 in ERA (2.89).
Ethan Hirschfeld also boasts a top-200 ERA (3.33).

Scouting Report

UMass Dartmouth Corsairs

Babson Beavers

Mitchell Mariners

UMass Dartmouth is back in the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 2000 and eighth time in program history. The Corsairs enter the dance with a 24-18-1 record, going 12-4 in Little East Conference (LEC) play and upsetting top-seeded UMass Boston, 4-3 in 10 innings, in the LEC championship.

Hosts Babson won its first New England Women's and Men's Athletic Conference (NEWMAC) Tournament championship since 2018 to qualify for its sixth NCAA Tournament and first since 2019. The Beavers carry a 30-11 record into the dance, going 12-4 in the NEWMAC and besting Wheaton 5-3 in the title clincher.

Mitchell punches its fourth straight ticket into the NCAA Tournament and ninth in program history. Playing in its first season in the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC), the Mariners went 32-11 overall and 14-2 in league play, taking down Johnson & Wales (R.I.) 5-4 in the GNAC Tournament championship.

What's At Stake

The winner of the Babson Park Regional advances to the Super Regionals, which runs from Friday, May 24 through Saturday, May 25 at a location to be determined.
The NCAA Baseball Championship will be held from May 31 through June 6 at Classic Park in Eastlake, Ohio.

The Rundown

Tournament Schedule

The 2024 Sea Gulls

Scouting Report

What's At Stake

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