Salisbury set to host South Regional, Sea Gulls tabbed as No. 1 seed
INDIANAPOLIS - The No. 3 Salisbury University baseball team will serve as a Division III regional host as the Sea Gulls make their 10th straight and 15th overall NCAA tournament appearance as the field was released Monday by the selection committee. The Sea Gulls are the top-seed in the eight-team South Regional held at Arthur W. Perdue Stadium, home of the Delmarva Shorebirds, in Salisbury, Md. The regional is being hosted Salisbury University and the Wicomico County Convention and Visitor's Bureau.
The eight teams in the South Regional in addition to the Sea Gulls include second-seed Shenandoah University, third-seed North Carolina Wesleyan College, fourth-seed Christopher Newport University, fifth-seed Washington & Jefferson University, six-seed York (Pa.) College, seventh-seed Johns Hopkins University and eighth-seed Washington & Lee University.
Salisbury (37-6), the Capital Athletic Conference champions, will take on Washington & Lee (22-13) in the first round on Wednesday, May 13, at 1:15 p.m. The Generals are making their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance as they won the Old Dominion Athletic Conference championship. Second-seed Shenandoah (33-8), from the USA South Conference, will make its first NCAA tournament appearance and will face seventh-seed Johns Hopkins at 7:45 p.m. The Blue Jays (24-14), national finalist last season, are making their third straight and 16th overall NCAA tournament appearance. Third-seed N.C. Wesleyan (27-19), champions of the USA South Conference, makes its 21st NCAA tournament appearance and will take on York at 4:30 p.m. The Spartans (27-14), from the CAC received a Pool B bid, make their 11th NCAA tournament appearance and first since 2007. Fourth-seed Christopher Newport (24-11-2) and fifth-seed Washington & Jefferson (33-12) will get things started with the first game on Wednesday at 10 a.m. The Captains, the third team from the USA South in this regional, make their second straight and fifth overall NCAA tournament appearance. The Presidents, champions of the Presidents Athletic Association, make their first-ever NCAA tournament appearance.
The Sea Gulls are making their ninth straight and ninth overall NCAA appearance under SU head coach Doug Fleetwood. The Sea Gulls have a career record of 27-28 in the NCAA Division III tournament. Salisbury has been in every NCAA tournament field this decade. SU advanced to the South Regional final in 2008 but lost 9-4 to Johns Hopkins in Danville, Va. SU has advanced to the World Series twice in the program's history (2001, '04).
The other regional hosts are Adrian College, Augustana College (Ill.), Eastern Connecticut State University, Farmingdale State, Kean University, Linfield College, University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh.
2009 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship Tournament
