Brockport, NY –The Golden Eagles have qualified for NCAA regionals following a SUNYAC Championship win in Cortland last Sunday. Brockport will head to Arcadia University to face off with #23 Rowan on Friday, May 19^th at 1:30 PM.
 
SUNYAC Title: The Green and Gold came back from a 9-7 deceit in the top of the ninth to defeat #25 Cortland, 12-9, in ten innings to capture the program's sixth SUNYAC Title. Down 2-0 in the third, Zach Eldred connected for an RBI triple while Patrick Bigham had an RBI single to tie the game at 2-2. Cortland's Mat Bruno would respond with a 2-run homer put the Red Dragons back ahead 4-2.
 
Brockport would find a way to manufacture 5 unanswered runs, highlighted by RBI knocks from David Belsito and Johnny Genau to put Brockport ahead 7-4. Mat Bruno's second homer brought the Red Dragons within two in the fifth. A 3-run inning in the eighth gave Cortland a 9-7 lead. In the top of the ninth, clutch RBIs from Justin Pangburn and Brian Tietjen brought the game to a 9-9 stalemate. This would ultimately push the game into extra innings after a scoreless bottom of the ninth. 
 
In the top of the 10^th, Patrick Bigham connected for a sac fly to put Brockport up one. This was followed by a critical 2-RBI single from Justin Pangburn to effectively put the game out of the Red Dragons' reach. Cooper Meldrim (W, 3-0) posted a clutch performance, allowing no runs and securing the last 8 outs for the Green and Gold in a winning effort. The Golden Eagles' offense exploded for 17 hits in the contest, with six players recording multiple hits, while Patrick Bigham and Justin Pangburn drove home three runs each.
 
Brockport secured its sixth conference title in program history, its first since 2010 and the second under Head Coach Justin Beach.
 
SUNYAC Baseball All-Tournament Team:
 
Zach Eldred was named SUNYAC Tournament MVP after accumulating six hits, six runs, two RBI, two doubles, and a triple over four games, leading the Golden Eagles to a SUNYAC title.

Andrew Huffman earned All-Tournament honors, going the distance in a win against Oneonta, allowing just two runs and six hits across nine innings of work. With his three strikeouts in the game, Huffman became the program's all-time leader in strikeouts for a career.

Patrick Bigham posted a .312 batting average with seven RBIs and a triple in route to a SUNYAC All-Tournament team selection.

Justin Pangburn was also selected for the SUNYAC All-Tournament team, posting a .333 batting average to go with six RBIs, including three coming in the championship game against Cortland.

David Belsito batted an outstanding .388 with seven hits and five RBIs from the leadoff spot for Brockport to earn his spot on the SUNYAC All-Tournament team.

Recent Postseason History: With the win over Cortland in the SUNYAC championship on Sunday, this marks the first SUNYAC championship for the Golden Eagles since 2010, and the first time in program history that Brockport has defeated Cortland 4 times in the same year. After the impressive showing to claim the conference title, Brockport heads back to NCAA Regionals for a second consecutive season.
 
Last year the squad hosted Johnson & Wales, Baldwin Wallace, and Wheaton College for the four-team regional round. After a tough pair of losses to Baldwin Wallace (4-3) and Wheaton (6-2), the Golden Eagles were eliminated from the NCAA Division III Championships.

Regional Schedule:
 
Friday, May 19th
Game 1 – Susquehanna vs Arcadia, 10am
Game 2 – Brockport vs Rowan, 1:30pm

Saturday, May 20^th
Game 3 – Loser Game 1 vs Loser Game 2, 8:30am
Game 4 – Winner Game 1 vs Winner Game 2, 12pm
Game 5 – Winner Game 3 vs Loser Game 4, 3:30pm

Sunday, May 21^st
Game 6 – Winner Game 5 vs Winner Game 4, 11am
Game 7 – *If necessary, 45 minutes after Game 6 ends
 
Follow the Action: Throughout the weekend, Arcadia University will be providing both live video and live stats for each game of the regional round. Check the following links, which can also be found of the Baseball Schedule page, to follow along.
 
Live Video: https://gomacsports.tv/arcadia/
Live Stats: https://arcadiaknights.com/sidearmstats/baseball/summary

Scouting Rowan: Rowan came in at #24 in the May 9^th edition of the D3baseball.com top 25 polls and received an at-large bid following a 7-1 loss against Kean University in the NJAC Championship tournament. The Profs boast a well-rounded lineup with 5 playing with a batting average of .350 or better, fronted by OF Phil Sedalis who leads Rowan in batting average (.430), OPS (1.163), hits (80), triples (8), and triples (8), among other statistics. The Golden Eagles and the Profs have not met since 2011, with the last matchup resulting in a dominant 11-1 win for the Green and Gold.

Scouting Arcadia: The Knights hold a 32-12 record and earned an automatic bid as well as hosting privileges following a 3-2 win over Misericordia in the MAC Freedom Championship game. Senior INF Alex Madera leads the charge for the Arcadia offense with a stellar .453/.525/.624 slash line to go along with a team-leading 77 hits, 51 RBIs, and 106 total bases. The Knights rotation is led by senior Carson Denham, who holds a 7-1 record across 12 starts with a 2.54 ERA. Across his last 5 appearances (4 starts), Denham has allowed just 4 runs, struck out 20 batters, and went the distance twice in 9 inning efforts.

Scouting Susquehanna: The River Hawks earned an automatic bid following an upset-filled run to a Landmark conference championship, defeating top seed Scranton 8-6 and 6-5 in 10 innings. Susquehanna holds a 26-18 overall record. INF Tony Rossi leads the River Hawks with 10 home runs, and a 1.036 OPS, and has caught fire during Landmark conference play with a slash line of .429/.518/.700.

Up Next: Depending on the outcome of Friday's matchup with Rowan, the Golden Eagles will take on either Arcadia or Susquehanna, at either 8:30 am or 12 pm on Saturday, May 20^th.