2026 NCAA Baseball Regionals Preview

By Will DeBoer

5/14/2026 9:00:00 AM

The Rundown

The seventh-ranked Salisbury University baseball team's run for a fourth College World Series appearance in six seasons will once again begin from the friendly confines of “The Don.” The Sea Gulls will host the four-team, double-elimination Salisbury Regional of the 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament beginning on Friday, May 15. SU will lock horns with Bridgewater State at 10 a.m. that day, followed by a showdown between Mount Union and Hobart at 1:30 p.m.

The #d3baseball bracket just dropped ?? ?? #WhyD3 pic.twitter.com/PUJmLIXIZG
— NCAA Division III (@NCAADIII) May 11, 2026

Tournament Schedule

Friday, May 15

Game 1 - Bridgewater State vs. Salisbury - 10 a.m.

Game 2 - Hobart vs. Mount Union - 1:30 p.m.

Saturday, May 16

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

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

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

Sunday, May 17 - Regional Finals

Game 6 - G4 Winner vs. G5 Winner - 11 a.m.

Game 7 - G6 Rematch (if necessary) - 45 min. following

Live Video (NCAA Champs Pass)

Live Stats

Regional Central

NCAA Tournament Info

#1 Mickey Haynes | 2026 C2C Tournament MVP

The 2026 Sea Gulls

#4 Aidan Brinsfield | C2C Pitcher of the Year

#29 Nathan Tondreault | C2C Player & Rookie of the Year

#22 Cole Williams | C2C Scholar-Athlete of the Year

#31 Jack Rucker | All-C2C Honorable Mention

#2 Jackson Inman | All-C2C First Team

#24 Bryce Sterling | All-C2C Honorable Mention

Salisbury finished the regular season with a 32-9 record, winning 12 straight games since Apr. 13, and captured its fifth Coast-to-Coast Athletic Conference (C2C) Tournament championship in six years, topping Christopher Newport 8-7 in the semis and taking down Mary Washington 4-3 in 10 innings in the title game.
The Sea Gulls ranked seventh in the final NCAA Power Index (NPI) of the regular season, posting a mark of 60.651 in that metric.
SU played 14 games against nine opponents that made the NCAA Tournament field, going 7-7 with wins over Denison, Shenandoah, Mary Washington (x2), PSU-Harrisburg, and Christopher Newport (x2).
The Sea Gulls’ 4-1 victory over Denison on Feb. 21 remains the Big Red’s only loss on the season entering postseason play, and half of SU’s 12-game winning streak entering regionals has come against NCAA teams.
Salisbury ranked sixth in the final regular season D3Baseball/NCBWA Poll on May 12. The Sea Gulls opened the year at No. 5 and never fell out of the top 15.
The Sea Gulls extended the second-longest NCAA Tournament streak in Division III by qualifying for its 26th consecutive dance dating back to 2000. Only Cortland (33) holds a streak longer than SU's.
Outfielder Nathan Tondreault was named both C2C Player and Rookie of the Year, becoming the first conference player since Ryan Poff [York (Pa.)] in 2006 to sweep both honors. Tondreault becomes the sixth straight Sea Gull to win Player of the Year (Meekins, Caster, Sheeler, Kell, Winebrenner) and the third straight to win Rookie of the Year (Williams, Burroughs).
Right-hander Aidan Brinsfield was selected as C2C Pitcher of the Year, becoming the first Salisbury hurler since 2022 to take the league's top pitching prize.
Pitcher Cole Williams earned C2C Scholar-Athlete of the Year laurels after boasting a 3.947 grade-point average as an Exercise Science major on the Physical Therapy track.
Six Sea Gulls were recognized on the All-C2C Teams, opens in new tab:
First Team (4) - SP Aidan Brinsfield, RP Cole Williams, 3B Jackson Inman, OF Nathan Tondreault
Honorable Mention (2) - RPs Jack Rucker, Bryce Sterling
2nd in ERA (2.75)
2nd in WHIP (1.16)
2nd in Hits Allowed/9inn (6.68)
3rd in Sac Bunts (53)
5th in Shutouts (6)
16th in SB (128)
16th in HBP (105)
20th in SB/G (3.12)
20th in Field% (.971)
26th in K:BB Ratio (2.19)
30th in OBP (.441)
31st in Runs/Game (9.3)
34th in DP Turned (35)
37th in Runs (382)
41st in BB/9 (3.73)
53rd in SLG (.480)
54th in HR/G (0.95)
55th in HR (39)
61st in 3B (14)
61st in BB (211)
63rd in K/9 (8.2)
113th in BA (.310)
Aidan Brinsfield
2nd in Starts (14)
15th in Wins (10)
24th in WHIP (1.00)
42nd in Hits Allowed/9inn (6.70)
55th in ERA (2.59)
Ethan Ruiz
6th in Sac Bunts (11)
11th in SAC/G (0.28)
Bryce Sterling
8th in SV (8)
Nathan Tondreault
161st in BA (.396)
Tyler Villa
120th in ERA (3.18)
Trent Waire
1st in Sac Bunts (17)
2nd in SAC/G (0.41)
Cole Williams
5th in App. (24)
9th in Hits Allowed/9inn (4.89)
10th in ERA (1.70)
10th in WHIP (0.92)
The 2026 NCAA Regionals will mark the 11th time in program history Salisbury has hosted a national postseason round, with games played at the old SU Baseball Field, Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, and Donnie Williams Sea Gull Baseball Stadium.
The Sea Gulls are 13-15 over 29 games in national tournament home games dating back to 1978.
1978: NCAA Regional (2-2)
2002: NCAA Regional (2-2)
2005: NCAA Regional (0-2)
2009: NCAA Regional (1-2)
2019: NCAA Regional (1-2)
2022: NCAA Super Regional (2-1)
2023: NCAA Super Regional (2-0)
2024: NCAA Super Regional (0-2)
2025: NCAA Regional (3-0), NCAA Super Regional (0-2)

Salisbury Game Notes

Scouting Report

Mount Union Purple Raiders

Hobart Statemen

Bridgewater State Bears

Mount Union earned its third NCAA Tournament bid in program history and second consecutive. The Purple Raiders were the top-seeded hosts of the Ohio Athletic Conference Tournament but were eliminated in the semifinals by Ohio Northern, 13-5.
Top Player: Drew Denham (Jr. INF) - .421 BA, 51 R, 27 XBH, 42 RBI, 1.176 OPS
Top Pitcher: Ty Dennison (Jr. RHP) - 9-0, 3.61 ERA, 92.1 IP, 38 BB, 110 K
Hobart returns to the NCAA Tournament for the second time (1992) and first since restarting the program in 2023 following a program hiatus from 1996-2022. The Statesmen advanced to the Liberty League championship round, forcing a winner-take-all with RIT before bowing 17-5.
Top Player: Sean Garvin (Jr. INF) - .395 BA, 48 R, 25 XBH, 43 RBI, 1.113 OPS
Top Pitcher: Teck Nash (Sr. RHP) - 7-1, 3.39 ERA, 77 IP, 9 BB, 48 K
Bridgewater State is in the NCAA Tournament for the fifth straight season and 19th time overall. The Bears hosted and won the Massachusetts State Collegiate Athletic Conference with three straight victories, rallying late to beat Worcester State 12-11 in the final.
Top Player: Rylan Secovich (Jr. OF) - .392 BA, 50 R, 10 XBH, 22 RBI, 40-45 SB, .955 OPS
Top Pitcher: Matt Kustigian (Sr. RHP) - 5-0, 1.80 ERA, 40 IP, 6 BB, 26 K

#9 Trent Waire | Division III Leader in Sacrifice Bunts (17)

What's At Stake

The winner of the Salisbury Regional advances to one of eight Super Regionals, which run from Friday, May 22 through Saturday, May 23 at a location to be determined. The eight supers champions will qualify for the Division III World Series.
The 2026 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship will be held from May 30 through June 5 at Classic Auto Group Park in Eastlake, Ohio.

The Rundown

Tournament Schedule

The 2026 Sea Gulls

Scouting Report

What's At Stake

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