CONWAY, S.C. - The 2018 Northeast Conference championship-winning LIU Brooklyn baseball team (31-24, 16-12 NEC) will open up the NCAA Tournament this Friday, June 1 at the Conway Regional in South Carolina. The Blackbirds will take on the top seed and host Coastal Carolina Chanticleers (42-17, 23-7 Sun Belt) at Spring Brooks Stadium; first pitch is scheduled for 6 p.m.
The weekend's games will all air on ESPN3, with Richard Cross on play by play and Jay Powell on color. The Chanticleers, who are ranked No. 20 in the nation in the NCAA's latest Division I poll, are hosting their fourth NCAA Regional, and are just two years removed from winning the College World Series in 2016. Joining LIU and CCU in the regional are No. 2 seed UConn (35-20-1, 14-10 ACC) and No. 3 seed Washington (30-23, 20-10 PAC-12).
Winners of their last seven in a row, the Blackbirds are the No. 4 seed at the regional. The double-elimination format means LIU will take on either the winner or the loser of the UConn/Washington game taking place at 12 p.m. Friday.
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NOTES FROM THE NEST
• LIU Brooklyn head coach
Dan Pirillo is the youngest head coach in the NCAA Tournament field this year. Pirillo (32, graduated from LIU in 2008), in his second year as head coach is two years youngest than the next head coach, Canisius' Matt Mazurek. Mazurek is in his first season at the helm of his alma mater, making Pirillo the youngest head coach in the tournament, and the second-shortest tenured.
• It is not just Pirillo's first appearance at an NCAA Regional, it is the first post season appearance for the entire team. No player or coach on the LIU squad has ever been to a Regional in any capacity, and last week's NEC Tournament appearance was actually the first post season appearance ever for the entire LIU Brooklyn roster.
LIU BROOKLYN'S NCAA TOURNAMENT HISTORY
• With their NEC Championship win last week, the Blackbirds set several new marks for the program. LIU won its' program-record 31st game, and captured their first-ever NEC Tournament title. LIU won a NEC baseball championship title back in 1990, prior to the first NEC Tournament and before the NEC Champion earned an automatic NCAA berth.
• It is the second time ever in program history that LIU will appear in the NCAA tournament. Prior to 2018, the Blackbirds' lone appearance was in 1972, when LIU went 1-2 in the District 2 regional in Princeton, N.J. LIU opened the tournament with a 2-1 win over St. John's, before falling to Temple (1-0) and Penn State (7-5) to be eliminated. The Blackbirds also made a postseason appearance in NCAAs in 1968, but played in the college division.
• It was the program's eighth NEC tournament appearance (1993, 1994, 1995, 1996, 1998, 2000, 2011, 2013 and 2018), and the first time the Blackbirds won three games in the current format.
SCHEDULE OF EVENTS
(All live stat and broadcast links for all games are available
here)
Friday, June 1
12:00 pm • Game 1: Washington vs. Connecticut
6:00 pm • Game 2: LIU Brooklyn vs. Coastal Carolina
Saturday, June 2
12:00 pm • Game 3: Game 1 Loser vs. Game 2 Loser | Elimination Game
5:00 pm • Game 4: Game 1 Winner vs. Game 2 Winner
Sunday, June 3
12:00 pm • Game 5: Game 3 Winner vs. Game 4 Loser |Elimination Game
6:00 pm • Game 6: Game 4 Winner vs. Game 5 Winner | Championship Round
Monday, June 4
TIME TBA • Game 7: If Necessary | Championship Game
SCOUTING THE CHANTICLEERS
- The No. 20 nationally ranked Chanticleers earned the right to host as one of the top 16 seeds in the nation, after winning the Sun Belt Conference. CCU comes into the tournament with a 42-17 record, including 23-7 in conference action.
- Coastal is hosting its fourth NCAA Baseball Regional, its second on campus, and its first at Spring Brooks Stadium. It's the fifth time Coastal has been a #1 seed at a Regional. The Chants won the National Championship in 2016, and have advanced to the Super Regional three times in program history.
- The Chants had multiple Sun Belt conference award winners in their second year in the league. Head Coach Gary Gilmore was named the Coach of the Year, while five CCU players earned first team honors, and two earned second team, as the Chanticleers won both the regular season and tournament title.
- Two seniors lead CCU at the plate. Senior Seth Lancaster, who earned first team All-Sun Belt at shortstop, has hit .311 so far this season, with 19 home runs, 17 doubles and 55 RBI. And senior Kevin Woodall Jr. earned first team honors at first base, with 19 home runs, a .300 batting average, and a team-high 62 RBI. Freshman Parker Chavers leads the team in batting average, hitting .316, while senior catcher Matt Beaird has the second best percentage in the nation in throwing out runners, and led the nation for most of the year. The catcher has gunned down 22 of 33 attempted base stealers.
- This is the first time CCU and LIU have ever faced off in baseball.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES PART I
- UConn comes in as the No. 2 seed, having gone 35-20-1 overall this season, and 14-10 in the ACC. The Huskies are making their 20th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, and their fifth since 2010.
- LIU has never played UConn in baseball.
- UConn is led by junior captain and catcher Zac Susi, who's hitting .328 this year. Senior outfielder Isaac Feldstein has a team high 40 RBI, while sophomore lefty Mason Feole is the team's top starter. Feole has a team-low 2.50 ERA, a 9-1 record on the mound, and a team high 114 strikeouts this season. Meanwhile, junior lefty P.J. Poulin is the team's top reliever, with a6-2 record in 30 appearances, and 16 saves.
SCOUTING THE HUSKIES PART II
- Washington finished the year 30-23 overall, and 20-10 in the PAC-12, good for third overall. The No. 3 seed this weekend, UW is in the NCAA tournament for the 11th time, and third in the last five years.
- LIU has also never played Washington in baseball.
- At the plate, senior first baseman Joe Wainhouse leads the team with 50 RBI and 14 home runs, hitting .309 so far this season. On the mound, UW is led by junior righty Joe DeMers, who has a 2.56 ERA, and a 6-3 overall record that includes 105.1 innings pitched and three complete games, along with a team-high 83 strikeouts.
NEC TOURNAMENT NOTES
- The LIU Brooklyn baseball team beat Wagner 8-5, to win the school's first-ever Northeast Conference Baseball Tournament Championship at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Conn. last Saturday. The Blackbirds (31-24) won three consecutive games over the league's two regular season co-champions to earn the NEC's automatic berth to the NCAA Baseball Championship
- Sophomore Jackson Svete (4-2) got the championship start for the Blackbirds, pitching a shutout for the first five innings with two strikeouts, before giving up four runs in the bottom of the sixth. His classmate Rob Griswold came out of the bullpen for the next three innings, before yielding to Mike Kreiger, who earned the save, despite giving up a run in the ninth inning.
- The Blackbirds had eight hits in the game, with Andrew Smith, Joe Mercadante and Anthony Warneke getting two apiece, with Mercadante leading the team with three RBIs. Greg Vaughn and Warneke had two runs batted in a piece, with Vaughn also scoring two runs in his MVP performance.
- LIU had five players on the all-tournament team: Patrick Clyne, Rob Griswold, Andrew Turner, Joe Mercadante, and the Most Valuable Player, Gregory Vaughn Jr.
- The Blackbirds had a tough road to the championship as the No.3 seed. LIU had to beat co-champions Wagner and Bryant three times in three days. In the opening round, LIU beat No. 2 seed Wagner, 2-1, advancing to take on top-seeded Bryant Friday. The Blackbirds beat the Bulldogs, 13-4 to move on to the championship game in the double-elimination tournament format. After Wagner beat Bryant in the first game of the day, the Blackbirds then had to beat the Seahawks for the second time in three days, and they did, winning 8-5.
NEC AND ECAC HONOREES
- Five LIU Brooklyn baseball players were recognized by the Northeast Conference at the annual banquet preceding the 2018 NEC Tournament. The five all-conference selections are the most by the Blackbirds since the 1990 championship team.
- Senior Andrew Turner and junior Alex Briggs were named All-NEC first team, while juniors Mike Kreiger and Andrew Smith, along with sophomore Patrick Clyne were all named second team All-NEC in a vote of the league's coaches. It marks the first honor for Briggs, Clyne, Kreiger and Smith, and the second consecutive nod for Turner, who earned a second team selection in 2017.
- Turner, it was announced recently, also earned second team All-ECAC honors, becoming the first Blackbirds since 2014 to earn the honor. Current LIU assistant coach John Ziznewski was the last LIU player to be named an ECAC All-Star in his senior year in 2014.The two remain the only two players in recent LIU history to be recognized by the ECAC.
CHASING HISTORY
- This Blackbird team has made their marks on the LIU record books in more than one way. The team has set a new program record for wins, with 31. The previous record of 28 was set in 2011.
- Pitching Coach Tom Carty's staff has been the backbone to this year's success. The Blackbirds have already crushed the program record for strikeouts in a season with 427 this year, well over the 345 mark previously set in 2013. The team also tied the school mark for K's in a game with 17 set last month in a 2-1 win at CCSU. The starter in that game, sophomore Patrick Clyne holds the NEC season-high 14 strikeouts, set in a start at FDU on March 29.
- Junior closer Mike Kreiger (1.73 ERA, 7 saves, NEC-leading 27 appearances) is also etching his name in the record books. With his seven saves this season, Kreiger has tied the LIU all-time record for saves in a career, with 18. He needs just one save to break the record.
- Senior Andrew Turner still has his eye on a record of his own. The infielder, who ranks 10th in the nation in on base percentage (.498) and 27th in the nation in hit by pitch per game (0.36), has 15 doubles this year, and 42 in his career. He's chasing LIU's all-time career record for doubles, which currently stands at 44. He needs two to tie and three to break the all-time record, set by former teammate Pete Leonello from 2011-14.
NEC ACCOLADES & STATS
- LIU players have won seven NEC weekly awards this season, as senior Dom Paiotti was named Player of the Week after batting .583 with seven RBIs in his final home series, as the Blackbirds swept a three-game series with FDU. Previously, the only other senior hitter Andrew Turner got the nod from the NEC for Player of the Week back on February 19.
- On the mound, three Blackbirds have earned NEC Pitcher of the Weeks, led by Patrick Clyne (3/5, 4/2, 4/23) - who won the award three times, while Zach Pederson (3/12) and reliever Rob Griswold (5/7), have been bestowed the honor once.