BRUNSWICK — The Bowdoin College baseball team has qualified for the New England Small College Athletic Conference tournament, slated to begin today at Trinity College.

The Polar Bears, the runners up in the East Division after an 8-4 conference mark (23-16 overall), meet NESCAC West champion Amherst (23- 8, 10-2 NESCAC) at 3 p.m., while the host and East Division top team Bantams (29-9, 10-2) take on West secondplace squad Williams (16-19, 7- 3), also at 3 p.m.

“Nothing really separates these teams once you get to this point,” said Bowdoin coach Mike Connolly, who leads his Polar Bears into the NESCAC Tournament for the third consecutive season. “It comes down to the team that plays the best. There are no upsets now.

“I could go back and look at teams in the NESCAC who didn’t make the tournament, put them in and there still would be no upsets.”

The past two seasons, Tufts put an end to Bowdoin’s season, once on the field (2010, 6-1 victory in the NESCAC title game) and last year when Mother Nature forced the championship tilt to be canceled. Because the Jumbos won an earlier tournament contest with Bowdoin (4-2), Tufts was awarded the title and a spot in the NCAA Division III Tournament, while the Polar Bears’ season came to a close.

This season, it was a big three-game sweep over Tufts (April 27-28) that put Bowdoin into the field, ending the Jumbos’ chances.

Bowdoin is playing well heading to the postseason, having won five of its last seven games, including a walk-off, 9-8 win over Suffolk on Sunday in the regular-season finale one day after splitting a Saturday doubleheader at Middlebury.

“It was a good season for us,” said Connolly. “There were times we played very well, and others when we were inconsistent. I feel that we are playing well right now, so our chances are good as we head into this double-elimination tournament.”

Strong pitching

“We can go five, six deep in our pitching rotation, so our depth is good there,” said Connolly of his pitching staff, led by right-hander Oliver Van Zant (junior, 5-2, three complete games, 2.20 earnedrun average, 82 strikeouts in 57.1 innings), lefty Christian Martin (sophomore, 4-1, 3.18 ERA, 46 strikeouts, 39.2 innings) and righty Tim Welch (senior, 4-1, 1.50 ERA, 32 strikeouts, 42 innings).

John Lefeber and Erik Jacobsen also started games this season, while the deep bullpen is led by closer Ian Edwards (senior, 1.50 ERA, six saves, 21 strikeouts), Henry Van Zant (freshman, 2- 3, two saves, 2.93 ERA) and Jay Loughlin (sophomore, 2-1, two saves, 4.07 ERA).

Bowdoin was second in the NESCAC in team ERA at 2.93.

“We rode our pitching at times this year, and we definitely will not run out of pitching this weekend,” said Connolly, whose staff held opponents to a .255 batting average.

Bowdoin’s inconsistencies came at the plate, and in the field. The Polar Bears hit .274 (ninth in the conference), while the fielding percentage was eighth in the NESCAC at .941.

“A lot of times we had stretches where we couldn’t score runs, and others when we couldn’t catch the ball in the field,” said Connolly. “We had games where we put the bat on the ball, but came apart in the field to cost us a ‘W.’ We need to do better at the plate this weekend, and must catch the ball and not allow teams more than three outs.”

Junior designated hitter/ catcher Dan Findley posted a team-leading .357 batting average this season, with 19 runs scored and 29 RBIs.

Junior outfielder Tim McGarry was the only other regular above the .300-mark at the plate, with a .321 average, 17 runs scored and 28 RBIs.

Freshman shortstop/second baseman Aaron Rosen hit .280, while senior shortstop Jordan Edgett scored 23 runs and posted a .276 batting average.

The others

Bowdoin’s opening round opponent is Amherst, the tophitting squad in the NESCAC with a .329 team average. The Jeffs were fourth in ERA (4.31) and second in fielding percentage (.961).

Amherst defeated the Polar Bears twice in Florida, winning 7-3 and 7-1 on March 18. The Jeffs dropped two out of three to Middlebury once returning north, but bounced back to claim the West with a three-game sweep of Wesleyan as the Jeffs closed the regular season by winning five of their final six games.

Trinity, currently riding a six-game winning streak, opened the NESCAC slate by taking two of three from Bowdoin, rolling to the top spot. A .320 team batting average was second behind Amherst, while the Bantams boast of the No. 1 pitching staff with a 2.75 ERA.

Williams comes in with a losing record, but managed to capture the second spot in the West despite a 4.77 team ERA, .292 batting average (seventh) and .955 field percentage (fifth). The Ephs were 10-17, but swept Hamilton to complete a six-game winning streak to edge third-place Wesleyan by one game.

“It is up to us to prove it on the field now,” concluded Connolly.

Games 3 and 4 of the tournament will be played on Saturday at 10:30 a.m., with the losers squaring off in an elimination game, and the winners meeting.

At 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, the winner of Game 3 meets the loser of Game 4 in the second elimination contest.

On Sunday, the championship game is slated for 10 a.m., with the “if” game to follow 30 minutes after the conclusion of the opening contest.

NESCAC baseball
NESCAC Baseball Tournament
At Trinity College, Hartford, Conn.

Today
Game 1 — Williams (16-19, 7-5) at Trinity (29-9, 10-2), 3 p.m.
Game 2 — Bowdoin (23-16, 8-4) vs. Amherst (29-8, 10-2), 3 p.m.

Saturday
Game 3 — Loser of Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2, 10:30 a.m.
Game 4 — Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2, 10:30 a.m.
Game 5 — Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4, 2:30 p.m.

Sunday
Game 6 — Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5, 10:30 a.m.
Game 7 — If necessary, Winner of Game 6 vs. Loser of Game 6, 30 minutes after the conclusion of Game 6.

sports@timesrecord.com