Indianapolis, Ind. – May 17, 2010 - The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 55 teams that will compete in the 2010 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship early this morning. Nationally ranked Heidelberg University leads the way in the Marietta Regional as the top seed. Marietta College is the host institution for the Mideast Regional Tournament set for May 19-23 at Don Schaly Stadium.
Heidelberg (37-6) earned a spot in the regional after capturing the Ohio Athletic Conference’s automatic bid after winning the OAC Tournament. The College of Wooster (34-7) will be the second seed after it won the North Coast Athletic Conference Tournament. Host Marietta (32-11), also representing the OAC, earned the third seed after receiving one of 15 at-large bids into the national tournament.
Presidents' Athletic Conference Regular Season champion Washington & Jefferson (Pa.) College (32-10) also received an at-large bid and will be the fourth seed. Adrian (Mich.) College (29-11) is seeded fifth after it won the Michigan Intercollegiate Athletic Association's regular season crown. Thomas More (Ky.) College (31-14), the sixth seed, will also represent the PAC by way of winning its league tournament. The seventh seed belongs to Penn State University (Pa.) Erie - The Behrend College, winners of the Allegheny Mountain Collegiate Conference Tournament.
Washington and Jefferson and Adrian will open Mideast Regional action Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Marietta will battle Thomas More at 1:00 p.m. Wooster will take on Penn State-Behrend at 4:30 p.m. Heidelberg will then close out day one against the winner of the Washington & Jefferson vs. Adrian game. First pitch of the game is scheduled for 8:00 p.m.
Heidelberg, under the guidance of head coach Matt Palm, is making its third straight, fourth overall appearance in the regionals. It is the second consecutive year that the Berg has earned the top seed. Entering regional action Heidelberg has won 14 in a row and its 37 wins on the year thus far ties for second most in a single season.