Syracuse, N.Y. – The four remaining teams in the 2023 Northeast-10 Conference Baseball Championship – No.1 SW Le Moyne College (30-17, 14-6 NE10), No. 3 SW Pace University (30-18, 9-11 NE10), No. 2 NE Franklin Pierce (31-15, 17-7 NE10) and No. 4 NE Bentley University (23-20, 11-13 NE10) – will compete in double-elimination NE10 Championship Weekend beginning on Thursday at Le Moyne's Dick Rockwell Field.

The Franklin Pierce Ravens and the Le Moyne Dolphins will start things off on Thursday with an 11:00 a.m. tilt, then the Pace Setters and the Bentley Falcons will take the field for the second contest of the day, scheduled to begin at 2:30 p.m.

The two losing teams will meet on Friday for an elimination matchup, which will precede game four of the weekend between the two winning sides. 

The title game for the conference tournament will be played on Saturday.

The top-seed in the Southwest Division Le Moyne took down the no. 4-seed Adelphi University in round one by a score of 10-5. The third seed in the SW Division Pace recorded a 6-4 win over #3 SW Southern Connecticut State (29-16, 12-8 NE10) during Tuesday's single-elimination round, while Bentley upset the Northeast Division's top seed and the top seed in the East Region Southern New Hampshire University (37-11, 23-1 NE10) by a score of 7-4.

In the final first round matchup, Franklin Pierce bested #3 NE American International (23-24, 13-11 NE10) to earn a spot in Championship Weekend.

#1 SW Le Moyne vs #2 NE Franklin Pierce – Thursday at 11:00 a.m.
The Dolphins and the Ravens met at Dick Rockwell Field during the regular season on April 2 and 3 for a four-game series outside of the conference slate. Le Moyne recorded a four-game sweep over the then-nationally ranked Ravens. The Dolphins claimed an 11-8 win in game one with the help of two home runs and five RBI from sophomore right fielder Wyatt Patchett (Geneva, N.Y./Geneva), then junior left-hander Max Parker (Manlius, N.Y./Fayetteville-Manlius) threw a complete-game gem in game two, holding the Ravens to just two hits, zero runs and one walk with eight strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work as the Dolphins claimed a 3-0 victory.

Le Moyne registered a convincing 13-3 win over FPU in game three with the help of home runs from Patchett, senior center fielder Zach Brush (New York Mills, N.Y./New York Mills) fifth-year shortstop Nick Nevins (Poughkeepsie, N.Y./Roy C. Ketcham), graduate second baseman Drew Carroll (Clifton Park, N.Y./Christian Brothers Academy (Albany)) and junior catcher Brady Fureno (Canajoharie, N.Y./Fort Plain), then sophomore catcher Benji Ries (Buffalo Grove, Ill./Adlai E. Stevenson) delivered a walk-off double in the bottom of the seventh in the series finale to lift the Dolphins to a 6-5 win, completing the sweep.

The Dolphins have launched 49 home runs as a team so far this season, surpassing the 2018 squad's total of 48 home runs for the most long balls recorded by a Le Moyne team since the program transitioned to Division II. The last time a Le Moyne baseball team recorded 50 home runs in a single season was during the 2008 campaign.

The Dolphins led all Southwest Division teams with 24 home runs during conference play, while the Ravens recorded 19 home runs during their 24-game NE10 Northeast Division schedule.

Le Moyne and Franklin Pierce met in the NCAA East Regional during the 2022 season, and the Ravens came away with an 11-4 victory.

During Le Moyne's first-round win over #4 SW Adelphi, Max Parker threw 7.0 innings and was replaced by junior right-hander Billy Hoffacker with the score tied 5-5. Hoffacker threw a 1-2-3 top of the eighth with two strikeouts, then Le Moyne added five runs in the bottom of the inning to take a 10-5 lead. Hoffacker closed things out in the top of the ninth to earn the win and send the Dolphins through to Championship Weekend. Carroll delivered two timely solo home runs during the postseason battle and finished the contest with three hits, three RBI and three runs scored. Graduate first baseman Dewey Roden added three hits and two RBI, and the 2023 NE10 Rookie Hitter of the Year Adam Sullivan provided a two-RBI base hit to break the 0-0 tie in the fourth inning.

FPU bested AIC behind 4.1 strong innings from rookie right-hander Drew DeLucia, followed by 3.2 scoreless frames from junior righty Tyler McDonald. Junior second baseman Hunter Paquette went 2 for 3 at the plate with two runs and three RBI for the Ravens, while junior shortstop Ian Battipaglia contributed two hits, two RBI and a run scored.

The Dolphins are looking to earn the second NE10 postseason title in program history, while the Ravens last wore the NE10 crown in 2019, and prior to that they won the conference tournament in 2015 and 2009, 2008, 2007 and 2005.

The Southern New Hampshire University Penmen won back-to-back Northeast-10 Conference Championships in 2021 and 2022, but with the Bentley Falcons completing the upset over the top-seeded Penmen in the quarterfinals on Tuesday, we will have a new champion in 2023.

Le Moyne will be competing in its last NE10 Baseball Championship this weekend, as the college announced on Wednesday that Le Moyne will be transitioning to the Division I level for all its sports and accepting an invitation to join the Northeast Conference.
 
#3 SW Pace vs #4 NE Bentley – Thursday at 2:30 p.m.
The Setters and the Falcons met early in the season for a three-game series outside the conference slate down in Florida on March 11, 12 and 13.

NE10 Southwest Division Pitcher of the Year Patrick Gleason held the Falcons to just five hits, zero walks and zero runs with seven strikeouts over 7.0 innings of work in game one as the Setters earned a 4-0 win.

Vincent Civitella allowed just two hits, one run and two walks with 10 strikeouts in 7.0 innings of work to lead the Setters to a 7-6 win in game two, then Pace outlasted Bentley 10-9 in the non-conference series finale with the help of three RBI from left fielder Matthew Rinaldi.

During Bentley's first-round win over #10 Southern New Hampshire, designated hitter Liam Sears contributed two hits and three RBI, while graduate right-hander Brandon Ostiguy held SNHU's high-powered offense to just five hits, one walk and four runs with five strikeouts in 8.0 innings of work.

The Setters scored five runs in the top of the second inning during their quarterfinal win against #2 SW Southern Connecticut State and registered a 6-4 win behind strong relief pitching from Michael Roll and Christian Aich. Gleason recorded the final two outs to get the save. Third baseman Anthony Labita contributed two RBI to the Pace cause during the postseason battle.

Bentley last made in appearance in the NE10 title game in 1987, and they have yet to win an NE10 Championship. The Pace baseball program has yet to make an appearance in the NE10 Championship Finals.

Admission to the Thomas J. Niland Athletic Complex and Dick Rockwell Field is free to all spectators.