Purple Knights Set To Open 2016 ECC Baseball Championship On Thursday Afternoon

Central Islip, N.Y. - It took a day longer than expected but the East Coast Conference Baseball Championship bracket was finalized on Monday afternoon. Bridgeport, Dowling, Molloy, and St. Thomas Aquinas have earned the four spots in the upcoming tournament that will be hosted by Dowling College in Shirley, N.Y. The tournament will run from Thursday, May 12th through Saturday, May 14th with the winner receiving an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.

St. Thomas Aquinas, the three-time defending ECC Champion, earn the top seed in the tournament after clinching their first ECC Regular Season Championship since 2013. This will be the ninth straight ECC Championship appearance for the Spartans, currently the longest streak in the league. St. Thomas Aquinas finished with a 16-8 mark in ECC play and a 35-13 overall record.

The Spartans' first round opponent in the double elimination tournament will be the No. 4 seed, Bridgeport. The Purple Knights earned the final spot in the championship on Monday afternoon with a win over St. Thomas Aquinas in a win or go home regular season finale. By advancing to ECC Championship play, the Purple Knights, who finished the regular season with a 13-11 ECC record (24-20-1 overall),  keep alive a streak of consecutive appearances, moving to six in a row.

Bridgeport and St. Thomas Aquinas split their season series with each team winning twice on their home field.

Dowling is the No. 2 seed and like Bridgeport, is making their sixth straight appearance in the tournament. The Golden Lions (14-10 ECC, 24-22 overall) will take on No. 3 seed, Molloy (13-11 ECC, 30-19 overall) in a first round matchup. The Lions are back in the ECC Championship for the third time in four seasons after missing last year's tournament.  In the regular season series, the two schools' split their four matchups, with each team winning twice on their opponents home field.

The tournament will begin with the Molloy vs. Dowling matchup at 12:00 p.m.  on Thursday afternoon. Bridgeport and St. Thomas Aquinas will follow at 3:00 p.m.

Check back to www.eccsports.org throughout the week for an ECC Baseball Championship page, which will have links to live stats, live video, recaps, and all other pertinent information about the tournament. Each game will be broadcast live on the ECC YouTube page. To read Twitter updates throughout the tournament, follow us @ECCsports.

2016 ECC Baseball Championship hosted by Dowling College - Shirley, N.Y.
Thursday, May 12
12:00 PM - No. 3 Molloy vs. No. 2 Dowling
3:00 PM - No. 4 Bridgeport vs. No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas

Friday, May 13
10:00 a.m. - Loser Game One vs. Loser Game Two
1:00 p.m. - Winner Game One vs. Winner Game Two
4:00 p.m. - Winner Game Three vs. Loser Game Four

Saturday, May 14
12:00 p.m. - Winner Game Four vs. Winner Game Five
If necessary - 30 minutes after the completion of Game Six