ITHACA, N.Y. – The Ithaca College baseball team was one of eight schools chosen to host NCAA Division III Super Regionals this weekend, May 27-28, at Freeman Field against Catholic University. The best-of-three game series will begin at 12 p.m. on Friday with the second game scheduled for 11 a.m. on Saturday, and the if necessary contest will start 45 minutes after the conclusion of game two.

Ithaca (33-12) won the Immaculata, Pa. Regional in three games for the program's first regional title since 2013. The Bombers opened the regional with an 8-5 win over No. 25 Montclair State and then defeated Keystone, 7-2, to reach the championship round. IC and Keystone met up once again and the Bombers came away with a 17-2 triumph.

Catholic (32-13) prevailed in the Shenandoah, Va. Regional in four games. The Cardinals won their first round matchup against Stevens, 7-1, and then topped Shenandoah, 6-5, to reach the regional final. Catholic squared off against Shenandoah again and dropped the first contest, 6-3, and trailed 6-0 in the winner-take-all contest, but scored 13 unanswered runs en route to a 13-10 title victory.

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$8 for adults
$5 for students/seniors

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* Home team will be decided prior to the start of each game.

SUPER REGIONALS:

The final 16 teams in Division III are playing in a best-of-three game series this weekend. The eight winning teams will move onto the NCAA Division III Baseball Championship in Cedar Rapids, Iowa from June 3-8. This marks the second season in which the Super Regional format has been used in Division III baseball.

The other Super Regional hosts are No. 2 Marietta (vs. No. 16 Oswego), No. 9 Wisconsin-Whitewater (vs. No. 12 Wisconsin-Stevens Point), No. 3 Birmingham-Southern (vs. No. 15 Trinity Texas), No. 19 Endicott (vs. No. 21 Baldwin Wallace), No. 7 Salisbury (vs. Wooster), No. 1 Eastern Connecticut State (vs. No. 10 Rowan) and No. 4 LaGrange (vs. No. 17 Chapman).

SO NICE TO MEET YOU:

Ithaca began playing baseball in 1931, while Catholic's first season of competition dates back to 1896. The two schools have never met.

This is the only Super Regional that features two unranked teams playing for a trip to the Division III Championship.

NCAA EXPERIENCE:

Ithaca is playing in its 49th NCAA Tournament and has won 128 games during that time, including two national championships in 1980 and 1988. The Bombers have also been the national runner-up three times. IC last won a regional title in 2013 and went on the finish third in the country that season.

Catholic secured its fourth bid to the NCAA Championship in 2022 and last appeared in the NCAA field in 2018, as well as in 2015 and 2011. The Cardinals were 1-6 in NCAA games prior to their run through this year's Shenandoah Regional.

COMMON OPPONENTS:

Ithaca and Catholic played a fair share of common opponents this season – Montclair State, Rochester, Scranton and Stevenson.

IC went 6-2 against the common opposition, while Catholic was 4-6.
 

ITHACA Montclair – W, 8-5 Rochester – W, 5-2, L, 7-3, W, 14-8, W, 8-7, W, 18-5 Scranton – L, 6-4 Stevenson – W, 7-2

CATHOLIC Montclair – L, 19-0, L, 19-18, L, 5-0 Rochester – W, 5-4, L, 7-4 Scranton – L, 13-1, L, 14-6, W, 7-3, W, 8-6 Stevenson – W, 11-5

SCOUTING THE BOMBERS:
Ithaca is 33-12 on the season and is riding an eight-game winning streak into the Super Regional. The Bombers earned an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a three-game sweep of the Liberty League Championship.

Buzz Shirley set IC's single season record for doubles earlier this season and Connor Pedersen and Kyle Lambert are on the verge of setting new records in hits and strikeouts. Shirley currently has 21 doubles on the year, while Pedersen is one hit shy of tying the single season mark of 75. Lambert currently ranks No. 3 in strikeouts and is eight shy of matching the program record of 93.

Six Bombers who have recorded more than 90 at bats are hitting over .300 on the year. Shirley leads the way with a .424 average, while Pedersen is hitting .381. Louis Fabbo (.375), Nicholas Cutaia (.357), Matt Fabian (.350) and Mike Nauta (.302) are all over the .300-mark.

The Bombers sport a three-man rotation on the mound with a deep bullpen. Lambert is IC's No. 1 starter (88.0 IP, 85 K, .228 OBA, 3.38 ERA), while Nate Scott (7-3, 4.04 ERA, 71.1 IP, 56 K) and Colin Leyner (7-0, 3.49 ERA, 56.2 IP, .214 OBA) will see action.

When the Bombers turn to the pen, look for Matt Chase (12 APP, 29.1 IP, 19 K), Garrett Bell (7-0, 35.0 IP, 37 K) or Erislandy Rives (20.0 IP, 23 K, 15 APP) to be first in line. Brett Budzak also has 24 strikeouts in 18.2 innings pitched with a 2.89 ERA.

SCOUTING THE CARDINALS:
Catholic is 32-13 this year and was an at-large selection out of the Landmark Conference, as the Cardinals went 1-2 in the Landmark Tournament. After a four-game skid in mid-April, Catholic has gone 8-3.

The Cardinal offense mashes the baseball with 54 home runs, 96 doubles and 17 triples. Catholic also brings a patient approach to the plate with 254 walks. Although the pitching staff has over a 6.00 ERA, the Cardinals are one of the top programs in Division III in strikeouts.

Peter Giombetti has set a new school record for single season home runs and slugging percentage, while Dante Pozzi and Zach Burton could surpass the school mark in walks this weekend.

Six different Cardinals have over five homers on the season, led by Giombetti's 14. There are also six hitters in the lineup with over a .300 average, and Giombetti leads the way at .376. Ben Nardi paces Catholic with 59 hits, while Pozzi has scored 49 runs and Giombetti has driven in 54.

Catholic boasts one of the most dominant pitchers in the country this season in Tucker Alch, who is 10-2 with 114 strikeouts in 86.1 innings pitched. Alch has also only walked 12 batters all season.

Jack Zaffiro and Cody Bosak will most likely be the No. 2 and No. 3 starters for Catholic this weekend. Zaffiro is 2-2 with 65 strikeouts in 49.2 innings pitched, while Bosak is 3-2 with 45 strikeouts in 50.2 innings.

Danny Fitzgerald and Brendan Martin are the top bullpen arms with a combined 30 appearances and 58.1 innings of work.

NCAA STATISTICAL LEADERS:

 

ITHACA 18th in doubles – 108 23rd in double plays turned – 36 25th in on-base percentage – .429 26th in hit by pitches – 83 26th in hits – 506 31st in batting average – .327 Kyle Lambert – sixth in starts – 14 Buzz Shirley – 11th in doubles – 21 Buzz Shirley – 12th in hit by pitches – 21 Buzz Shirley – 19th in on-base percentage – .545 Connor Pedersen – 24th in hits – 74 Connor Pedersen – 26th in doubles – 18 Kyle Lambert – 47th in strikeouts – 85

CATHOLIC 11th in walks – 254 11th in strikeouts per nine innings – 10.2 19th in home runs – 54 29th in runs – 394 38th in slugging percentage – .491 Tucker Alch – sixth in strikeouts – 114 Tucker Alch – sixth in victories – 10 Dante Pozzi – 12th in walks – 40 Peter Giombetti – 13th in slugging percentage – .792 Tucker Alch – 15th in strikeout-to-walk ratio – 9.5 Peter Giombetti – 17th in home runs – 14 Zach Burton – 21st in walks – 38