Seahawks selected for Mid-Atlantic Regional

Summary: Salve Regina University baseball travels to Moosic, Pa., for its third-ever automatic bid to NCAA Division III Championships. Misericordia University serves as host of the Mid-Atlantic Regional.

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SALVE REGINA IN THE CHAMPIONSHIPS

• The Seahawks are making their third appearance in NCAA Division III Baseball Championships (2001, 2005, 2016).
• In its two previous trips, Salve Regina competed in the New England Regional with Harwichport, Mass., as the Seahawks are winless in four NCAA Championships games.
• Thu., May 17, 2001 versus Eastern Connecticut State University (L, 14-3).
• Fri., May 18, 2001 versus University of Southern Maine (L, 5-3).
• In those two games in the 2001 NCAA Division III Baseball Championships, Salve Regina freshman Damian Costantino would extend his soon to be NCAA record hitting streak.
• Thu., May 19, 2005 versus Trinity (Conn.) College (L, 10-7).
• Fri., May 20, 2005 versus Suffolk University (L, 8-7).

2016 NCAA DIVISION III BASEBALL MID-ATLANTIC REGIONAL

Mid-Atlantic Region Hosted by Misericordia University, Moosic, Pennsylvania

1. Misericordia
2. St. John Fisher
3. Salisbury
4. Haverford
5. UMass Boston
6. Kean
7. Salve Regina
8. Penn State - Berks 

Salve Regina has only faced one of the other seven schools in the Mid-Atlantic Regional, which is quite obviously UMass Boston (4-4 all-time versus the Beacons). The schools split the last two meetings in March 2000 in Fort Myers, Fla.

THE GAMES

Wed., May 18, 2016 [8:30 p.m.] - Salve Regina v. St. John Fisher | Box | Photos | Recap
Thu., May 19, 2016 [1:45 p.m.] - Salisbury v. Salve Regina | Box | Photos | Recap

COACHES' CORNER

• Seahawks have reached NCAA postseason in Eric Cirella's third year as head coach.
• Cirella has a 78-48-1 (.618) record in three seasons, posting 26 victories in all three.
• The third-year head coach is the fifth skipper in the history of the Salve Regina baseball program and the only former player to ever take the helm.
• Eric played on the last Seahawk baseball team to reach the NCAA Division III Championships (2005) under his father and then head coach Steve Cirella.

ARTICLE USED WITH PERMISSION FROM THE PROVIDENCE JOURNAL | written by Bill Koch

Salve Regina clinched an automatic berth in the field by storming out of the losers' bracket to win its first Commonwealth Coast Conference crown in 11 years. The Seahawks won four straight elimination games to emerge from the six-team field, including a 2-1 victory over Endicott on Wednesday to wrap up a doubleheader sweep.

"I've never seen such an excited group of guys after a championship," Salve head coach Eric Cirella said. "They're just really savoring this right now."

Cirella was a senior All-American on Salve Regina's 2005 team that secured just the second NCAA berth in program history, as the Jamestown native played four seasons for his father, Steve. The younger Cirella spent time on staff at the University of Rhode Island and with the Seahawks before succeeding his father at the start of the 2013 season.

"It was a long time coming," Cirella said. "We had to do it the hard way. I think that makes it even more special."

Cirella felt the turning point came in the Seahawks' first elimination game, an eventual 12-6 win over Curry. Salve Regina (26-16-1) found itself trailing, 6-4, in the top of the sixth and the Colonels were threatening again with their leadoff man aboard, but a timely pickoff by pitcher Will Ginsberg resulted in a scoreless frame. A three-run rally in the bottom of the inning gave the Seahawks a 7-6 lead, part of eight unanswered runs to end the game.

"After that point, I don't know if we trailed in a game," Cirella said.

Salve Regina plated three in the top of the first on its way to a 9-1 pasting of Western New England, snapping an 18-game losing streak to the Golden Bears in the process. Seahawks' ace Cory Poplawski went the distance in a 10-3 shellacking of Endicott to set up a winner-take-all finale, and sophomore left-hander Billy Humes pitched into the eighth inning for the first time in his career as Salve marched on.

"We didn't even have a hit," Cirella said. "Then we pushed across two in the sixth and going back to the dugout it was like, 'We might be able to do this.' That's when we started to taste it."

Four first-team all-CCC picks have led Salve Regina into the postseason: former Bishop Feehan standout Alex Perry, outfielders Ryan Kelly and Zack Smith and designated hitter/first baseman Tristan Dacey. The Seahawks' lineup had a habit of delivering with men on base all season, notching almost half of their runs batted in with two outs.

"If we get punched in the face, we usually bounce back quickly," Cirella said. "It's a great group of guys. I can't say enough about how much fun they are to watch."