ITHACA, N.Y.-- The baseball team (29-8) has been selected to play in the NCAA Championship Tournamet. The Bombers, one of six Pool B selections, are seeded second in the New York Regional and will face fifth-seeded Western New England Wednesday at 3:30 p.m. to open competition. The six-team double-elimination New York Regional, which runs Wednesday through Sunday at Farmingdale, also features top-seeded Cortland, third-seeded Rensselaer, fourth-seeded Farmingdale and sixth-seeded Clarkson. Tickets are $3 for general admission and $2 for students and senior citizens.

ITHACA'S INVITATION: The Ithaca College baseball team (29-8) has been selected for the NCAA Division III playoffs. The Bombers are seeded second in the six-team New York Regional, which will be hosted by Farmingdale and the Skyline Conference from Wednesday, May 13 to Saturday, May 16. Ithaca's first game will be Wednesday against fifth-seeded Western New England (90-15) at 3:30p.m. Wednesday's other two games feature top-seeded Cortland (30-12) vs. sixth-seeded Clarkson (21-19) at noon, and third-seeded Rensselaer (31-9) vs. fourth-seeded Farmingdale (26-13) at 7 p.m. The double-elimination tournament continues on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday. Sunday, May 16 is the rain date. Ticket prices are $3 general admission and $2 for senior citizens and students.

ITHACA SERIES RESULTS: The Bombers posted a 1-1 record this spring against the rest of the New York Regional field, splitting a pair of games with Cortland. The Bombers' all-time records against the field are: 63-13 against Clarkson (no NCAA playoff matchups), 78-33-1 against Cortland (including a 4-12 record in NCAA playoff competition); 1-0 against Farmingdale (the two teams played in the 2008 New York Regional) and 64-23 against Rensselaer (with an 8-7 record in the NCAA playoffs). Ithaca has never faced Western New England.

ITHACA vs. 2009 NCAA PLAYOFF FIELD: The Bombers faced five NCAA playoff teams this spring, defeating Cal Lutheran (8-3), splitting with Cortland (winning 8-0 and losing 8-3) and Montclair State (winning 4-3 and losing 5-4) and losing to Chapman (5-2) and Pomona-Pitzer (10-6 and 12-3).

ITHACA IN THE NCAA PLAYOFFS: The Bombers are making their 33rd appearance in the NCAA Division III playoffs – more than any other school – and 43rd NCAA playoff appearance overall. The Bombers are 96-67 in Division III playoff games and 124-83 overall. Ithaca has appeared in all but one NCAA tournament since the inception of Division III; since then only Marietta has played in more games or won more games than the Bombers. Ithaca has reached the Division III World Series 11 times, winning national titles in 1980 and 1988 and placing second in 1976, 1981 and 1986. The Bombers also played in the College World Series once (1962) and the College Division World Series once (1973). In Coach George Valesente's 30 years, Ithaca has played in 29 NCAA tournaments, reached the Division III World Series nine times and won two national titles.

THE 2009 PLAYOFFS: The Division III championship provides for a 54-team playoff field. The 54 teams include 35 winners of conferences whose champions have been awarded automatic qualification (including Liberty League champion Clarkson, State University of New York Athletic Conference champion Cortland, Skyline Conference champion Farmingdale, and Commonwealth Coast Conference champion Western New England), 14 teams from those 33 conferences who did not win their conference championship (including Rensselaer from the Liberty League) and six teams that are either independents or members of conferences whose champions do not receive automatic bids (including Ithaca from the Empire 8). Seven other double-elimination regional tournaments are being held this week (hosted by Adrian College, Augustana (Ill.) College, Eastern Connecticut State University, Kean University, Linfield College, Salisbury University and the University of Wisconsin-Oshkosh. The eight regional winners advance to the national finals, a double-elimination tournament to be held Friday, May 22 through Tuesday, May 26 in Appleton, Wis.

ABOUT ITHACA: The Bombers won their tenth straight Empire 8 title with a 14-2 record. Ithaca's pitching staff ranks 3rd nationally in ERA (2.83) and eighth in fewest hits allowed per nine innings (8.33). Senior righthander Pete MacDaniel is undefeated on the season at 8-0, and paces the team in victories and ERA (2.22). At 8-4, junior righthander Tom Fishback is tied for the team lead in wins, and leads the staff in innings pitched (74.2) and strikeouts (52). Sophomores Aaron Sapp (4-1, 2.30) and Dan Lynch (5-3, 3.91) round out the starting pitchers. In the bullpen, Tucker Healy has compiled a 3-0 record and five saves in 15 appearances. He has struck out 24 in 19.2 innings. At the plate, sophomore third baseman David Ahonen leads the team with a .393 batting average and five home runs. He has driven in 32 runs. Sophomore Matt Streich is hitting .336 with three homers and leads the team with 33 runs batted in and 18 extra-base hits. Senior Dylan Perez holds a .381 batting average with a pair of home runs and 30 RBI. Seniors Matt Samela and Kurt Bednarcyk are tied for the team lead with 30 runs scored and 11 stolen bases. Sophomore outfielder Rob Zappia is hitting .312 in 77 at-bats with eight extra-base hits and eight steals. Sophomore Trevor Wolf holds a .395 batting average and a .500 on-base percentage in 53 plate appearances. As a team, the Bombers have outscored their opponents 234-136.