Ithaca Earns Top Seed for Upcoming E8 Baseball Championship as Field is Announced
CHAMPIONSHIP CENTRAL
Conference Tournament to Take Place Thursday - Saturday
The 2019 Empire 8 Conference Baseball Championship will run through top-seeded Ithaca as the Bombers have earned the right to host this weekend's tournament. Ithaca finished the regular season with a 16-2 mark in league play to claim the top spot and earn the regular season title.
This year's double-elmination tournament will take place this coming Thursday - Saturday, May 9 - May 11. For the complete schedule of this year's E8 Baseball Championship, please see below.
CLOSER LOOK
Top-seeded Ithaca finished the regular season with a record of 27-7 overall, including their 16-2 mark in E8 league play. The Bombers are one of the hottest teams in the country, having won eight straight games and 15 of their last 17, overall. They'll take on Utica in one Day One matchup on Thursday as the Pioneers (9-9 in E8 play) earned the No. 4 seed in this year's championship.
Stevens (13-5 in league play) earned the No. 2 seed and will take on St. John Fisher (13-5) in the other day one game on Thursday afternoon. Although both teams ended up with identical league marks, Stevens earned the higher seed because they defeated Fisher twice in their three-game set during the year, giving them the advantage.
The winner of this weekend's tournament will earn the conference's automatic qualifying bid to the NCAA Tournament and advance to the 2019 NCAA Baseball Tournament.
2019 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Seeding
1. Ithaca
2. Stevens
3. St. John Fisher
4. Utica
2019 Empire 8 Baseball Championship Schedule
Thursday, May 9
Game 1 - No. 1 Ithaca vs. No. 4 Utica | 9am
Game 2 - No. 2 Stevens vs. No. 3 Fisher | 12pm
Game 3 - Loser Game 1 vs. Loser of Game 2 | 4pm
Friday, May 10
Game 4 - Winner of Game 1 vs. Winner of Game 2 | TBD
Game 5 - Winner of Game 3 vs. Loser of Game 4 | TBD
Saturday, May 11
Game 6 - Winner of Game 4 vs. Winner of Game 5 | 10am
Game 2 - If necessary | 1:30pm
Sunday, May 12 - Rain date if necessary
ABOUT THE EMPIRE 8 CONFERENCE
The members of the Empire 8 Conference are committed first and foremost to the pursuit of academic excellence and the league is regarded as an outstanding NCAA Division III conference. The membership has distinguished itself among its peer group for its quality institutions, spirited and sportsmanlike competition, outstanding services and highly ethical policies and practices. Its commitment to serve the educational needs of its student-athletes is the hallmark of the E8. For more on the Empire 8 visit www.empire8.com and https://youtu.be/wzL4HcDoUUQ