2010 Northeast Conference Baseball Tournament
May 27-29, 2010
#1 Sacred Heart * #2 Central Connecticut State * #3 Wagner * #4 Monmouth
Location: TD Bank Ballpark - Bridgewater, N.J. (Home of the Somerset Patriots)
Internet Live Video Streaming: www.NortheastConference.tv (free)
Broadcasters: Dave Popkin (Play-by-play) and Craig D'Amico (Color analysis)
Monmouth Radio: 88.9 FM WMCX / www.wmcx.com
Tournament Format: The championship will consist of a four-team, double-elimination tournament comprised of six or seven games over three days. The top four teams based on regular season conference winning percentage qualify for the NEC Tournament. The NEC champion will go on to compete at NCAA Regionals.
What to know:
The fourth-seeded Monmouth University opens its league-leading 14th Northeast Conference Tournament appearance on Thursday, May 27 when the Hawks face top-seeded Sacred Heart University. The Hawks, who were swept in the regular season series by the Pioneers, finished 15-17 in league play in 2010.
Monmouth, making its fourth straight NEC postseason appearance, has now qualified for a league-best 14 Northeast Conference Tournaments.
Monmouth, which has won four NEC Tournament Championships, has a 27-19 overall record in postseason play, including a 12-9 all-time mark against the institutions in the 2010 tournament field.
At 22-25 overall, Monmouth finished the regular season with a losing record for the first time since 2004.
In now its 24th season in the Northeast Conference, Monmouth has now only had five campaigns in which it finished below .500 in league play. At 15-17 in the leauge, Monmouth posted its first losing record during a year since 1995, snapping a string of 14 straight winning NEC marks.
Monmouth, which lost at least 11 games this season due to weather issues, had its 30-win season streak stopped at three year. MU had won at least 30 games in four of the last five seasons.
Head Coach Dean Ehehalt, the all-time winningest coach in NEC history, now has 450 career wins at the helm of the Monmouth program, which includes 242 victories in NEC play.
Statistics Watch:
Monmouth ranks last in the NEC in team-batting (.274)
MU ranks second in the NEC in team ERA (5.80)
MU has scored 281 runs (6th); CCSU (1st) has notched 431 runs
MU has 418 hits (9th); CCSU (1st) has 619 hits as a team
Monmouth has the third highest HR total with 41
MU ranks 4th in stolen bases (52)
The staff ranks 2nd in the league in opponent batting average (.301)
Monmouth has won four NEC Tournament Championships, earning four NCAA Regional Appearances (1998, 1999, 2007, 2009)
