WILLIMANTIC, Conn. – The Eastern Connecticut State University baseball team has qualified as an at-large selection to its 38^th NCAA tournament and will host a regional tournament for the 19^th time beginning Friday at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
 
Seeded second, No. 22 Eastern (29-13) faces third-seeded SUNY New Paltz (30-14) in the second  game of the four-team, three-day double-elimination tournament at 2:30 p.m. In the first game Friday at 11 a.m., Endicott College (41-2), the No. 1 seed and No. 1-ranked team in Division III, faces fourth-seeded Husson University (23-10). Endicott and Eastern are ranked 1-2 in the most recent New England poll, released April 24.
 
Three games are scheduled in the tournament for Saturday beginning at 11 a.m., and the first game of the championship round is scheduled for Sunday at 11 a.m.
 
Making its fourth NCAA appearance in the last four years, Eastern last hosted the regional in 2016, when it was eliminated in two games. This will be the seventh time that Eastern has hosted the tournament at the Eastern Baseball Stadium, the first 12 coming at the old Alumni Field. The Warriors last won the regional at home in back-to-back years in 2003 and '04, capturing four straight in each of those years.
 
As the No. 2 seed, Eastern finished third in last weekend's Little East Conference tournament after finishing with a share of the regular-season title with a 13-3 record after sweeping eventual LEC tournament champion University of Massachusetts Dartmouth on the final day of the regular season. On Sunday, New Paltz upset top seed and No. 20-ranked SUNY Cortland to win its first State University of New York tournament title, beating the homestanding Dragons twice on the final day by scores of 11-3 and 15-11 to reverse its 2023 record of 14-24.
 
Eastern and New Paltz have met twice previously, Eastern sweeping a non-conference pair, 13-3, 14-4 in 2009, when it reached the regional championship game at the Eastern Baseball Stadium.
 
The tournament winner advances to the best-of-three Super Regionals, set for May 24-25 against the winner of the Johns Hopkins Regional which features host JHU, St Joseph's College (L.I.), Ramapo College and Arcadia University.  
SEEDING
 
1 Endicott College (41-2); 2. Eastern Conn. (29-13); 3. SUNY New Paltz (30-14); 4. Husson U. (23-10).
Friday, May 17
 
Game 1: Endicott College vs. Husson U., 11 a.m.
Game 2: Eastern Conn. vs. SUNY New Paltz, 2:30 p.m.
 
Saturday, May 18
 
Game 3: Game 1 loser vs. Game 2 loser, 11 a.m.
Game 4: Game 1 winner vs. Game 2 winner, 2:30 p.m.
Game 5: Game 3 winner vs. Game 4 loser, 6 p.m.
 
Sunday, May 19
 
Game 6: Game 4 winner vs. Game 5 winner, 11 a.m.
Game 7 (if necessary): Same teams as Game 6, 45 min. after completion of Game 6