Ravens open play on Thursday against Dowling at Penmen Field

NCAA Championship East Regional Tournament Central
NCAA.com selection announcement
NCAA Championship Regional brackets (PDF)
Archived selection show video 

RINDGE, N.H. (May 11, 2014) – The No. 21 nationally ranked Franklin Pierce University baseball team has been named as the second seed of the NCAA Championship East Regional, as announced Sunday night by the NCAA. The Ravens, the Northeast-10 Conference Northeast Division co-champion, earn an at-large bid in the six-team, double-elimination tournament, which will run Thursday, May 15 through Sunday, May 18 and be hosted by top seed Southern New Hampshire at Penmen Field in Manchester, N.H. Franklin Pierce will open defense of last year's title and pursuit of its seventh regional crown on Thursday against fifth-seeded Dowling.

Each of the six teams will play their first games on Thursday. In addition to the Franklin Pierce (35-16) game against Dowling (33-15), top-seeded Southern New Hampshire (39-12) will face sixth-seeded Felician (29-18) and third-seeded Wilmington (Del.) (34-9-1) will play fourth-seeded St. Thomas Aquinas (34-15). Penmen Field serves as host of the East Regional for the third straight season.

The schedule has Franklin Pierce opening its 10th straight NCAA Championship appearance, and 11th overall, against Dowling in Thursday's middle game, at 3 p.m. The Ravens will be preceded by SNHU vs. Felician at 11 a.m. and succeeded by Wilmington vs. Felician at 7 p.m. A full schedule, along with ticket information, will be added to this story on Monday afternoon as it is made available by SNHU.

From there, three games will be played Friday, with one winners' bracket game, one losers' bracket game and one game which will feature both a first-day winner and a first-day loser. Saturday will feature three games as well, while Sunday is scheduled for either one or two games, depending on how the rest of the tournament plays out.

Each day of the tournament, ticket prices will be as follows: $6 for adults and $3 for children (ages 2-12)/seniors and college students with valid ID. Children under two-years-old will be admitted free of charge. Per NCAA policy, no complimentary admissions will be issued.

SNHU, Felician and St. Thomas Aquinas all received automatic bids to the tournament as champions of the Northeast-10 Conference, Central Collegiate Athletic Conference and East Coast Conference, respectively. Meanwhile, Franklin Pierce from the Northeast-10, Wilmington from the CACC and Dowling from the ECC all earned at-large selections. Two-thirds of the field returns from last year's East Regional, as Franklin Pierce, SNHU, St. Thomas Aquinas and Wilmington all participated in the 2013 event.

Franklin Pierce and Dowling met for a four-game series at Dowling on March 8-9 earlier this season, with Dowling sweeping a March 8 doubleheader, 2-1 and 1-0, and the Ravens responding with a doubleheader sweep on March 9, 3-2 and 10-4. Tyler Badamo -- who is likely to start for Dowling on Thursday -- went 8.2 innings without allowing an earned run as part of a 2-1 Dowling win in the series opener. After the pair of one-run losses on the first day of the series, junior right-hander Doug Willey (Shelburne, N.H.) took over with a two-run lead in the sixth of the first game the second day and went final 3.1 innings, allowing just one run on four hits to nail down the victory. Franklin Pierce and Dowling were in the same NCAA Regional field four times between 2008 and 2012, but have not actually squared off in the event since an 11-10 Franklin Pierce win on the first day of the Northeast Regional in 2006.

The winner of the East Regional will advance to the NCAA Championship National Finals, scheduled for May 24-31 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. Seven other regional tournaments will be conducted this week, with each sending its champion to Cary as well; the East Region champion will square off against the South Central champion in its opener. Franklin Pierce is the defending East Region champion, was a semifinalist the two years prior and is a six-time regional champion (2013, 2010, 2008, 2007, 2006, 2003).

NCAA Baseball Championship East Regional
Hosted by Southern New Hampshire University
Penmen Field (Manchester, N.H.)
Double elimination
Seeds in parentheses 

Thursday, May 15
Game 1: (1) Southern New Hampshire vs. (6) Felician - 11 a.m.
Game 2: (2) Franklin Pierce vs. (5) Dowling - 3 p.m.
Game 3: (3) Wilmington (Del.) vs. (4) St. Thomas Aquinas - 7 p.m.

Friday, May 16
Game 4: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser - 11 a.m.
Game 5: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 3 Loser - 3 p.m.
Game 6: Game 2 Winner vs. Game 3 Winner - 7 p.m.

If four teams remain after Game 6, the following schedule will be used:
Saturday, May 17
Game 7: Game 5 Winner vs. Game 6 Winner - 11 a.m.
Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 6 Loser - 3 p.m.
Game 9: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 7 Loser - 7 p.m.

Sunday, May 18
Game 10: Game 7 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner - Noon
Game 11: Game 10 rematch* - 4 p.m.
* Game 11 only necessary if Game 9 Winner wins Game 10.
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If five teams remain after Game 6, the following schedule will be used:
Saturday, May 17
Game 7: Game 5 Loser vs. Game 6 Loser - 11 a.m.
Game 8: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner - 3 p.m.
Game 9: Game 6 Winner vs. Game 7 Winner - 7 p.m.

If two teams remain after Game 9, the following schedule will be used:
Sunday, May 18
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Winner - Noon
Game 11: Game 10 rematch* - 4 p.m.
* Game 11 only necessary if Game 8 Winner wins Game 10.

If three teams remain after Game 9, the following schedule will be used:
Sunday, May 18
Game 10: Game 8 Winner vs. Game 9 Loser - Noon
Game 11: Game 9 Winner vs. Game 10 Winner - 4 p.m. 

For more information on Franklin Pierce Athletics, please visit the official website of Franklin Pierce Athletics (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu). Also be sure to follow the Ravens through the Department of Athletics' official Facebook page (http://www.facebook.com/FranklinPierceRavens), its YouTube channel (http://www.youtube.com/franklinpiercesports) and its Twitter feed (http://twitter.com/FPUathletics). Fans wishing to purchase Franklin Pierce baseball apparel can do so at the Department of Athletics' online store (http://athletics.franklinpierce.edu/store).