BRUNSWICK — It has been an interesting week for the Bowdoin College baseball team.
After splitting four games in the New England Small College Athletic Conference Tournament to finish in second place behind Trinity, the Polar Bears received the good news — they were one of 56 teams to make the NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament.
Bowdoin is the No. 7 seed in the eight-team New England Regional and will take on familiar foe St. Joseph’s College of Maine at Mansfield, Conn., tonight at 7:45 p.m.
The Monks, seeded second, finished 37-5 overall, but one of those five losses was a 9-4 setback to the Polar Bears on April 9 at Standish.
“Our schedule has prepared us for this tournament,” said Bowdoin coach Mike Connolly, whose team is 25-18. “From our conference weekends, to our challenging non-conference slate, there is nothing we will see that will surprise us.
“Of the eight teams, there isn’t one that would make me say, ‘Wow, we can’t match up with that team.’ If we play well, we will win. Even my colleagues in this tournament agree that whoever wins on Wednesday, none of the results will be an upset.”
The field
Wheaton College, 34-8, is the top seed in the New England Regional and will take on eighth-seeded Bridgewater State (30-13). No. 4 Keene State (31-13) is challenged by fifthseeded Western New England College (33-11), while NESCAC champ and No. 3 Trinity (32-9) will take on the University of Southern Maine (27-17), the sixth seed.
Connolly hopes his Polar Bears bring the effort it had in victories over NESCAC foes Amherst (3-2 in 11 innings on Friday) and Williams (2-1 on Saturday), instead of the two lopsided setbacks against the Bantams (14-3 on Saturday and 6-0 on Sunday in the NESCAC title game).
“The NESCAC tournament was similar to our regular season, where the kids did a fantastic job in grinding out two wins, while struggling in the two losses to Trinity,” said Connolly. “Trinity is a very good team, and like I predicted, the team that played the best was going to bring home the NESCAC trophy, and Trinity played the best.”
Connolly said his team is only looking at today’s matchup and not beyond.
“We haven’t discussed what it will take to win the tournament, instead concentrating on this first game,” said Connolly.
“Win or lose, we will regroup and take on the next challenge. In this tournament, you can’t get too high or too low.”
This is the second time the Polar Bears have qualified for the NCAA Tournament. In 2006, Bowdoin opened with a 9-7 loss to St. Joseph’s, and followed it up with a tough 10-8 setback against Middlebury.
Div. III baseball
2012 NCAA Division III Tournament
New England Regional
At Mansfield, Conn.
Today
- Game 1 — No. 4 Keene State College (31-13) vs. No. 5 Western New England University (33-11), 10 a.m.
- Game 2 — No. 1 Wheaton College (34-8) vs. No. 8 Bridgewater State University (30-13), 1:15 p.m.
- Game 3 — No. 3 Trinity College (32-9) vs. No. 6 University of Southern Maine (27-17), 4:30 p.m.
- Game 4 — No. 2 St. Joseph’s College (37-5) vs. No. 7 Bowdoin College (25-18), 7:45 p.m.
sports@timesrecord.com
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