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LANCASTER, PA – Franklin & Marshall College moved to #14 in the May 15 American Baseball Coaches Association/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Baseball Poll. Ranked second in the Mid-Atlantic Region rankings, the Diplomats are 28-9, including a 16-2 mark in the Centennial Conference, as Franklin & Marshall defended their 2005 Centennial Conference title by capturing the 2006 crown with 10-0 and 7-4 wins over Haverford College on May 6-7 at Caplan Field. Ranked sixth on March 27, seventh on April 3 and fourth in the ABCA/Collegiate Baseball regional poll, Franklin & Marshall earned the #5 seed for the NCAA Regional Tournament in Boyertown on May 17-21. The Diplomats will meet #4 seed and Pennsylvania Athletic Conference runner-up Gwynedd-Mercy College (31-13) at 9:30 a.m. on May 17 to open the tournament with the winner advancing to play top-seeded College of New Jersey the same day at 8 p.m. Wednesday’s other first-round Mid-Atlantic Region match-ups include #7 seed Frostburg State (27-11), the Allegheny Mountain Conference champion, versus #2 seed Montclair State (27-16-2), a New Jersey Athletic Conference at-large, at 1:00 p.m. Further, #6 seed Alvernia College (30-11), the Pennsylvania Athletic Conference champion, will face #3 seed Kean University (29-15), an at-large from the New Jersey Athletic Conference, at 4:30 p.m. The regional champion will advance to the national championship tournament in Appleton, Wisconsin. The bid marks the third to the national championship tournament in 131 years of varsity competition at Franklin & Marshall College and the third in the last 11 years as the 1995 Centennial Conference champion Diplomats went 2-2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional at Skylands Park in Augusta, New Jersey, while last year’s Centennial Conference champion Diplomats finished 0-2 at the Mid-Atlantic Regional in Boyertown. Overall, the regional tournament marks the Diplomats fifth non-conference post-season tournament appearance. In 1991, Franklin & Marshall was selected to the Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III championship tournament, but lost 11-10 to Allentown College (now DeSales University) in the semifinal round. In 2003, the Diplomats went 1-1 in the ECAC Tournament defeating Wilkes University 5-4, but fell to host Penn State-Behrend 3-1 in the title game. On the mound, Franklin & Marshall has a 2.75 earned run average and has been led by the trio of Matt Metsch (Fr., East Brunswick, NJ/East Brunswick), Jeremy Knox (Sr., Bronx, NY/Iona Prep) and Ted Serro (Sr., Brooklyn, NY/Xavier). The 2006 F&M Senior Male Athlete of the Year, Serro is 7-3 with a 1.50 earned run average and 78 strikeouts in 72 innings, while Metsch is 6-0 with a 1.25 ERA and 24 strikeouts in 43.1 innings of work. Knox leads the team in victories as he is 10-1 with a 2.71 ERA and 49 strikeouts in 76.1 innings to anchor a staff which has allowed 89 walks and struck out 229 batters this year, an average of 2.57 strikeouts per walk allowed. Ticket prices for the regional tournament are $4 for adults and $2 for students, while tournament passes are available at $20 for adults and $10 for students. ABCA/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III National Poll (May 15)
1. The College of New Jersey
2. Wooster (OH)
3. SUNY-Cortland
4. St. Scholastica
5. Salisbury
6. Wheaton (MA)
7. Carthage (WI)
8. Emory
9. Trinity (TX)
10. Western New England
11. Chapman
12. Ithaca
13. Washington (MO)
14. Franklin & Marshall
15. Otterbein
16. St. Olaf
17. Millsaps
18. Redlands
19. Montclair
20. Augustana (IL)
21. Rensselaer
22. St. Thomas
23. Marietta (OH)
24. Eastern Connecticut
25. Bridgewater (VA)
26. Aurora
27. Kean
28. Manchester (IN)
29. George Fox
30. Wisconsin-Stevens Point ABCA/Collegiate Baseball NCAA Division III Mid-Atlantic Region Poll (May 15)
1. The College of New Jersey (36-6)
2. Franklin & Marshall (28-9)
3. Montclair State (27-16-2)
4. Kean (29-15)
5. Johns Hopkins (28-9-2)
6. Rowan (27-13)
7. Alvernia (30-11)
8. William Paterson (26-14) / Gwynedd-Mercy (31-13)
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