A trio of local schools will begin their drive toward the College World Series today when Seton Hall, Manhattan College and St. John’s begin play in the double-elimination NCAA Regionals.
Big East champion Seton Hall (33-23) is the third seed in the College Station Regional and will take on No. 2 seed Arizona (36-19) at 1:35 EDT in College Station, Texas. Manhattan College (34-17) draws top-seeded Florida (45-16) in a Gainesville Regional matchup at 4 p.m. No. 3 St. John’s (35-20) will meet No. 2 East Carolina (39-19) in the Charlottesville Regional at 6 p.m.
The Pirates won the Big East Tournament by defeating the Red Storm 4-2 in the final. They are led by senior right-hander Joe DiRocco, who was named Most Outstanding Player of the Big East Tournament and is 8-1 with a 1.68 ERA in 16 starts.
The Jaspers, who won their second MAAC title last week, are making their third appearance in the NCAA Tournament and first since 2006, when they traveled to Lincoln, Neb., and defeated Joba Chamberlain’s Cornhuskers en route to making the Regional Final.
They will face a stiff test in Florida, the SEC champion and the No. 2 national seed, but the Jaspers aren’t fazed.
“The four years I’ve been here, I’ve never seen this team give up,” outfielder Mike McCann told the AP. “We’ve played teams down south and beat them and hung in with them. I think we have the mentality that we can beat these teams.”
The Red Storm is making its fourth appearance in the tournament in the last five years, and its 33 total appearances is tied for eighth in the nation. The Red Storm is 2-3 all-time against East Carolina, including a loss in their most recent meeting in 2009.
“Tournament play is making plays, not giving anything away, making them earn everything they get, and obviously timely hitting,” St. John’s head coach Ed Blankmeyer said. “Usually in tournament play there are not a lot of opportunities to plate runs, so you have to take advantage when it counts.”