Purple Knights Set Top Open 2014 ECC Baseball Championship On Thursday Versus Top-Seed And Host Dowling

Central Islip, N.Y. - It came down to the final day of the season, but the bracket is now set for this week's East Coast Conference Championship. The tournament will begin on Thursday, May 8th and run through Saturday, May 10th at Golden Lions Field on the campus of Dowling College in Brookhaven, N.Y. The winner of the four team field will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.

The top seed and hosting duties go to Dowling. The Golden Lions posted a 19-5 conference record (31-13 overall) to earn their first Regular Season Championship since sharing the title in the 2008 season.

Dowling's first round foe will be No. 4 seed, Bridgeport. The Purple Knights had to sweat out the final weekend of conference play to see if they would make the field as the one team in the conference with a bye. By virtue of their series victory over LIU Post, Bridgeport earns the tie breaker for the final seed in the bracket with an 11-13 ECC mark (17-26-1 overall). The Purple Knights, who are making their fourth straight appearance in the field, have advanced to the championship round of the tournament the past three seasons.

Dowling, which has won three of the past five conference tournaments, swept the four-game series against Bridgeport earlier this season.

The other two teams in the field are No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas and No. 3 Molloy. St. Thomas Aquinas (30-14, 16-8 ECC) looks to make it back-to-back conference championships after claiming their first -ever ECC crown in 2013. The Spartans enter the tournament on a roll as winners of 10 of their past 12 games.

Molloy is back in the tournament for the second straight season, earning the No. 3 seed with a 12-6 victory over Mercy on the final day of the season. The Lions (19-22, 12-12 ECC) took three of four from the Spartans during their regular season series.

2014 ECC Baseball Championship
Thursday, May 8
12:00 p.m. - No. 4 Bridgeport vs. No. 1 Dowling
3:00 p.m - No. 3 Molloy vs. No. 2 St. Thomas Aquinas

Friday, May 9
9:00 a.m. - Loser Game One vs. Loser Game Two
12:00 p.m. - Winner Game One vs. Winner Game Two
3:00 p.m. - Winner Game Three vs. Loser Game Four

Saturday, May 10
12:00 p.m. - Winner Game Four vs. Winner Game Five
If necessary - 30 minutes after the completion of Game Six

CLICK HERE 2014 ECC BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP TOURNAMENT CENTRAL