The SUNY Cortland baseball team has received a berth into the 56-team NCAA Division III playoffs for the 24th straight season and the 25th time overall. The Red Dragons (37-5) have earned the top seed in a six-team regional that Cortland will host May 18-21 at Falcon Park in Auburn, N.Y.
Cortland will play on Wednesday, May 18, at 11 a.m. versus sixth-seeded Castleton University (Vt.) (32-10). Wednesday's other first-round games feature second-seeded Ramapo College (N.J.) (33-10-1) versus fifth-seeded Union College (26-12) at 2:30 p.m., and third-seeded Frostburg St. University (Md.) (30-12) against fourth-seeded Susquehanna University (Pa.) (29-14) at 6 p.m.
Tournament action continues with three games on both Thursday and Friday, starting at 11 a.m. each day, along with one or two games Saturday.
Tickets each day are $3 for adults and $2 for students with ID, senior citizens, and children 12 and under, and can be purchased at the gate (cash only). The winner of the double-elimination regional advances to the eight-team NCAA Division III World Series, which will be held May 27-31 in Grand Chute, Wis. (near Appleton; south of Green Bay). The World Series will be in Wisconsin for the 17th straight year.
The Auburn regional features three World Series teams from last season. Cortland, Frostburg State and Ramapo were all part of the same four-team pod at the Series, with Cortland eventually winning the national title, Frostburg finishing with a 2-2 record, and Ramapo going 1-2.
The Red Dragons earned an automatic berth into this year's NCAA tournament by winning the State University of New York Athletic Conference (SUNYAC) postseason tournament May 6-8 in Cortland. Under 17th-year head coach Joe Brown, Cortland reached the 30-win plateau for the 22nd time in the last 23 seasons. Cortland's run of 24 straight NCAA appearances is the longest active streak in Division III.
Related: How the SUNY Cortland baseball team captured its first national title
Cortland has won regional titles in 13 of the last 21 years. Cortland advanced to the World Series in 1995, five straight years from 1997-2001, as well as in 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2012, 2014 and 2015. Cortland placed second in the region in 1996, 2003, 2006, 2011 and 2013. In addition to the Red Dragons' 2015 national crown, they finished second nationally at both the 2010 and 2005 World Series, third in 1997 and 1998, and fourth in 2007 and 2012.
For the second straight year, Cortland will host the regional in conjunction with the Auburn Doubledays - a Class A minor league affiliate of the Washington Nationals. The Red Dragons also hosted NCAA regional play in 2010 and 2011, both in Auburn.
In all, 10 previous NCAA regionals have been held at Falcon Park, all since 2000. Ithaca College hosted seven of those regionals, most recently in 2013. Cortland served as a co-host in 2005. Seven of the Red Dragons' 13 regional crowns occurred in Auburn (2000, 2001, 2005, 2007, 2008, 2010, 2015), along with three second-place finishes (2006, 2011, 2013).
2016 NCAA Division III Baseball New York Regional at Falcon Park (Auburn, N.Y.)
(hosted by SUNY Cortland)
Wednesday, May 18
Game 1: (#1 seed) Cortland (37-5) vs. (#6 seed) Castleton (32-10), 11 a.m.
Game 2: (#2 seed) Ramapo (33-10-1) vs. (#5 seed) Union (26-12), 2:30 p.m.
Game 3: (#3 seed) Frostburg St. (30-12) vs. (#4 seed) Susquehanna (29-14), 6 p.m.
Thursday, May 19
Game 4: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 11 a.m.
Game 5: Winner Game 1 vs. Loser Game 3, 2:30 p.m.
Game 6: Winner Game 2 vs. Winner Game 3, 6 p.m.
IF FOUR TEAMS REMAIN AFTER GAME 6
Friday, May 20
Game 7: Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Loser Game 6, 2:30 p.m.
Game 9: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8, 6 p.m.
Saturday, May 21
Game 10: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, TBA
Game 11: Same teams as Game 10 (if necessary), TBA
IF FIVE TEAMS REMAIN AFTER GAME 6
Friday, May 20
Game 7: Loser Game 5 vs. Loser Game 6, 11 a.m.
Game 8: Winner Game 4 vs. Winner Game 5, 2:30 p.m.
Game 9: Winner Game 6 vs. Winner Game 7, 6 p.m.
=======> IF TWO TEAMS REMAIN AFTER GAME 9
Saturday, May 21
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 9, TBA
Game 11: Same teams as Game 10 (if necessary), TBA
=======> IF THREE TEAMS REMAIN AFTER GAME 9
Saturday, May 21
Game 10: Winner Game 8 vs. Loser Game 9, TBA
Game 11: Winner Game 9 vs. Winner Game 10, TBA
Other Regionals (seeds in parentheses):
South Region Hosted by Berry College, Mount Berry, Ga.
(1) Emory, (2) Birmingham-Southern, (3) Shenandoah, (4) Marietta, (5) Huntingdon, (6) Thomas More
Mideast Region Hosted by Washington and Jefferson, Washington, Pa.
(1) LaRoche, (2) Randolph-Macon, (3) Wooster, (4) The College of New Jersey, (5) Ohio Wesleyan, (6) Johns Hopkins, (7) St. Joseph's (Long Island), (8) Widener
Central Region Hosted by Webster University, Sauget, Illinois
(1) Wisconsin-Whitewater, (2) Wartburg, (3) Augustana (Ill.), (4) Washington (St. Louis),
(5) Rose-Hulman, (6) Westminster (Mo.)
West Region Hosted by Whitworth University/Spokane Sports Comm., Spokane, Wash.
(1) Trinity (Texas), (2) Cal Lutheran, (3) Case Western Reserve, (4) Whitworth, (5) Texas-Tyler, (6) Pacific Lutheran
Mid-Atlantic Region Hosted by Misericordia University, Moosic, Pa.
(1) Misericordia, (2) St. John Fisher, (3) Salisbury, (4) Haverford, (5) Mass Boston, (6) Kean,
(7) Salve Regina, (8) Penn St. Berks
New England Region Hosted by Eastern Connecticut St. University, Willimantic, Conn.
(1) Wheaton (Mass.), (2) Oswego, (3) Tufts, (4) Keystone, (5) Suffolk, (6) Mitchell, (7) Eastern Conn. St., (8) Salem St.
Midwest Region Hosted by Wisconsin-La Crosse, La Crosse, Wis.
(1) Wisconsin-La Crosse, (2) Concordia Chicago, (3) North Central (Ill.), (4) St. Scholastica, (5) St. John's (Minn.),
(6) Luther, (7) Kalamazoo, (8) Beloit)
First-round matchups for the championship site will be as follows:
Pool A: South vs. New York; West vs. Midwest
Pool B: Mid-Atlantic vs. New England; Central vs. Mideast
(NOTE: The format for the World Series consists of two, four-team double-elimination pools. Winners of the two pools will play a best-of-three series for the title.)
