Field Set For 2017 ECC Baseball Championship

Central Islip, N.Y. - The bracket for the East Coast Conference Baseball Championship was finalized on Monday afternoon with the completion of regular season play. Bridgeport, LIU Post, Molloy, and St. Thomas Aquinas will compete for an ECC crown in the upcoming tournament that will be hosted by Molloy College at Mitchel Field in Hempstead, N.Y.
The tournament begins on Thursday, May 11 and runs through Saturday, May 13. The winner will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.

St. Thomas Aquinas (37-13, 20-5 ECC) won their second straight ECC Regular Season Championship to earn the championship's top seed. The Spartans enter the tournament as one of the hottest teams in all of Division II with wins in 10 straight games, 16 of their past 17, and 28 of their past 34 contests. St. Thomas Aquinas is also back in the ECC Championship for the 10th straight season and are in search of their fourth ECC title in five years.

Host school and No. 4 seeded Molloy (19-27, 11-14 ECC) will match up with the Spartans in the teams' opening game on the weekend. The Lions, who are in search of their first ECC title since 2001, are back in the bracket for the second straight year and for the fourth time in the past five years.

St. Thomas Aquinas swept the regular season series against Molloy by winning all five matchups, but three of the wins came by just one run.

LIU Post (27-18, 17-8 ECC) is back in the tournament after missing out last season and will be the No. 2 seed. This is the second appearance in three years and only the second since the 2012 season for the Pioneers. LIU Post last won an ECC Championship in the 2010 season.

The Pioneers will take on No. 3 seed, Bridgeport (19-23, 13-12 ECC). The Purple Knights were the final team to clinch a spot in the tournament with two victories in a doubleheader against Queens on Monday afternoon. The wins clinched a seventh straight berth in the championship for Bridgeport. The Purple Knights, who have been runner-up in the tournament in five of the last six seasons, are still in search of their first-ever ECC title.

Bridgeport took the season series three games to two over LIU Post. Three of the games were decided by one run and two headed to extra innings.

The tournament will begin with the Bridgeport vs. LIU Post matchup at 12:00 p.m.  on Thursday afternoon. Molloy 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.

2017 ECC Baseball Championship hosted by Molloy College at Mitchel Field - Uniondale, N.Y.
Thursday, May 11
12:00 PM - No. 3 Bridgeport vs. No. 2 LIU Post
3:00 PM - No. 4 Molloy vs. No. 1 St. Thomas Aquinas

Friday, May 12
11:00 a.m. - Loser Game One vs. Loser Game Two
2:00 p.m. - Winner Game One vs. Winner Game Two
5:00 p.m. - Winner Game Three vs. Loser Game Four

Saturday, May 13
12:00 p.m. - Winner Game Four vs. Winner Game Five
If necessary - 30 minutes after the completion of Game Six