RUTHERFORD, N.J. – The Felician University baseball team, on the heels of its two-games-to-none play-in series victory over Dominican (N.Y.) College on May 8, will begin play in the four-team, double-elimination main draw of the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference Championship tournament on Thursday.
Felician, the No. 2 seed from the CACC North Division, will face South No. 1 seed Wilmington (Del.) University at 11 a.m. at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury, Conn. The tournament is being hosted by Post University.
Guided by 19th-year head coach Chris Langan, Felician (25-20) has qualified for the CACC playoffs for the 10th consecutive completed season and the 18th time in the 23-year history of its program. The Golden Falcons are seeking their third conference championship, having won the crown in 2014 and 2016.
The entire main draw will be hosted by Post at Municipal Stadium in Waterbury (1200 Watertown Avenue). Ticket prices for each day of competition are $10 for adults and $5 for children, students (with ID) and senior citizens. Tickets can be purchased in advance at https://caccathletics.hometownticketing.com/embed/all. A free live webstream of each game will be available as well by surfing to https://www.caccnetwork.com, and an online statistics feed will also be provided by Post. Viewers can check https://www.felicianathletics.com/composite for game-by-game links.
The 2022 CACC Baseball Championship began as a six-team event. Wilmington (28-10) and Post (22-25) qualified automatically for the main draw by capturing the South and North Division regular-season titles, respectively, and Thomas Jefferson University (26-19) won its South play-in series over Goldey-Beacom College. Post and Jefferson will meet at approximately 2 p.m. on Thursday. More information about the 2022 CACC Baseball Championship tournament is available at https://caccathletics.org/sports/bsb/2021-22/releases/511DE.
Wilmington is the No. 5 team in the most recent NCAA Division II Committee East Region ranking. With a win on Thursday, Felician would advance to the winners' bracket final on Friday at 11 a.m. Should the Golden Falcons fall, they would have to come back and play again on Thursday at 5 p.m. The two remaining schools after Friday's losers' bracket final at 2 p.m. will play in Sunday's championship round at noon.
"It's going to be a tough game against Wilmington," Langan said. "We'll probably face the conference Pitcher of the Year in Ryan Sandberg, and Brian August is one of the best in-game coaches in our region. For us to have a chance we'll need to play clean baseball and take advantage of any opportunities that we are given."
Felician lost both ends of its regular-season doubleheader against Wilmington, 11-3 and 3-2, on Apr. 15 in Palisades Park, N.J. The Golden Falcons went 2-5 this season against the teams remaining in the tournament field.
"This is going be a good weekend of baseball and all the teams that are there are well-deserved," Langan said. "At this point it's the best team over three days. We have to minimize mistakes and stay focused, and if we do that, we'll have as good a chance to win as anyone else."
The champion of the 2022 CACC Tournament automatically qualifies for next week's NCAA Division II East Regional Championship, to be hosted by two of the participants.
Felician University inspires and engages more than 2,300 undergraduate, graduate, and adult education students through programs in its schools of Arts & Sciences, Business, Nursing, and Education. In the past three years, Felician has ranked third in New Jersey in "Best Return on Investment for Private Colleges" in the PayScale.com College ROI Report and as the "Safest College Campus in New Jersey" by niche.com. With campuses in Rutherford and Lodi, New Jersey, the Franciscan values of social justice, compassion, and respect for human dignity serve as an inclusive foundation for transforming the lives of tomorrow's leaders. Felician also sponsors 14 varsity intercollegiate sports that compete at the NCAA Division II level. To learn more about Felician University please visit www.felician.edu.
