SPRINGFIELD, Mass. – Western New England has claimed the top seed for the Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) baseball championship, which begins with opening-round games on Thursday, May 3. The Golden Bears (27-9 overall) captured the top seed in the conference tournament after posting a 15-1 record in CCC play.

Three games are slated for Thursday, May 2 at 3:00 p.m. Top-seeded Western New England will host sixth-seeded Curry (8-21-2 overall, 5-11 CCC), second-seeded Endicott (26-11, 15-1) will host fifth-seeded Wentworth (15-14, 5-11), and third-seeded Salve Regina (26-10, 12-4) will host fourth-seeded Roger Williams (23-16, 10-6).

CCC tiebreaking procedures were used to break deadlocks for first place and fifth place in the regular-season conference standings.

Atop the standings, as both Western New England and Endicott turned in identical 15-1 conference records. In the first step, head-to-head play granted no relief, as both the Golden Bears and Gulls split their two games.    In the second step, the teams' records were then compared to the other teams in the CCC standings from top to bottom. Both teams went 2-0 against each of the other seven conference teams.

Western New England and Endicott then proceeded to step three, a comparison of records against common non-conference opponents. The teams had six common non-conference opponents as of games completed by April 27 -- Amherst, William Paterson, Brandeis, Suffolk, UMass-Boston and Westfield State.  Against those opponents, Western New England posted a 5-1 record (.833), while Endicott compiled a 3-3 record (.500), thus earning the Golden Bears the top seed.

In addition, there was a three-way tie for fifth place, as Wentworth, Curry and Gordon each concluded the regular season with identical 5-11 CCC records.

In the first step, head-to-head play among the three tied teams, Wentworth posted a 3-1 record (2-0 vs. Gordon, 1-1 vs. Curry), while Curry posted a 2-2 record (1-1 vs. Wentworth, 1-1 vs. Gordon) and Gordon posted a 1-3 record (0-2 vs. Wentworth, 1-1 vs. Curry).  Having earned the best record in that comparison, Wentworth was awarded the fifth seed.  Curry and Gordon was treated as a new tie and returned to the top of the procedure.

In the first step of resolving Curry and Gordon, the teams split their two conference games, providing no relief.

In the second step, the teams' records were then compared to the other teams in the CCC standings from top to bottom. Both teams went 0-2 against each of the top four teams in the CCC standings.  Curry gained the edge, registering the only win by either team against fifth-seeded Wentworth.

Tournament action will continue throughout the week, culminating with the final day of the tournament scheduled for Sunday, May 5. The CCC tournament champion will earn automatic qualification to the upcoming 2013 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship, which begins Wednesday, May 15.

The highest seed will host each CCC tournament game played during the first two days of the tournament. The highest remaining seed following the first two full days of play will host all games played on the final two days. All times and are tentative and subject to change.

Wentworth is making its sixth tournament appearance in the last seven seasons and is looking for its first tournament championship since 1996. The Leopards are 7-26 all-time against Endicott, including 1-3 in CCC Tournament games. The last time these two teams met in the CCC Tournament, the Leopards prevailed, 5-1, on April 30, 2008.

To view the release in a PDF format please click here.  The official tournament schedule is available if you click here.

(Release courtesy of The Commonwealth Coast Conference Office)