WORCESTER, Mass. – Thanks to a 3-0 victory at Lehigh on Sunday, the Holy Cross baseball team will be playing in it's first-ever Patriot League Tournament Championship. The Patriot League has announced the dates and game times for the best-of-three series, held at the home of the Crusaders, Fitton Field, in Worcester, Mass. Holy Cross and Bucknell will square off in game one on Friday, May 21, at 6 p.m. Games two and three (if necessary) will be played as part of a doubleheader on Saturday, May 22 starting at 1 p.m.
The winner of this weekend's series will earn the Patriot League's automatic berth to the NCAA Tournament, which will begin with the Regionals on June 4-7. Holy Cross (25-24), which is the third seed in this year's Patriot League Tournament, looks to earn its first Patriot League title and 11th appearance in the NCAA Tournament, the first since 1978.
The third-seed Crusaders claimed a three-game series at No. 2 Lehigh this past weekend. Highlighting the weekend was a nine-inning, complete game performance from sophomore pitcher Nate Koneski (North Dighton, Mass.) in the 2-1 win on Saturday. Senior pitcher Chris Blanchard (Norwich, Mass.) shut down the Mountain Hawks through eight innings in the series-deciding game three on Sunday, as Koneski came in to pick up his first career save.
The fourth-seed Bison (23-32) claimed a three-game series at top-seeded Army this past weekend, outscoring the Black Knights 26-22.
Holy Cross took three out of four in the regular season series at Bucknell's Depew Field last month. In the only previous Patriot League Tournament meeting between the two teams, Bucknell defeated Holy Cross, 10-4, in a first-round matchup in 2001 at Navy's Max Bishop Stadium.
Related Information:
* Patriot League Baseball Championship Central
Holy Cross Baseball to Play in Patriot League Championship for the First Time in College History
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