May 14, 2007
Monarchs Receive Bid to NCAA First Round Tournament in Ferrum, Va.
Methodist to make first appearance since 2004

INDIANAPOLIS, IN -  The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 53 teams that will compete in the 2007 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.  The Methodist baseball team received a Pool C bid after not receiving an automatic bid from the USA South Conference Tournament.  The Monarchs will compete in Ferrum, Virginia from May 16-20.  Winners of the eight first-round tournaments will qualify for the double-elimination championship at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin, May 25-29.

The Monarchs stand at 29-13 this season after winning the regular season USA South conference title last month.  Methodist hoped to secure an automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament by winning the conference tournament, but when the championship game was cancelled due to poor weather conditions, Ferrum received the bid with the best tournament record. 

The Monarchs continued to finish their regular season going 4-3 since the tournament.  The NCAA selections were announced early Monday morning, sending Methodist to familiar territory in Ferrum, Virginia as one of seven teams.  Of the other six teams, Bridgewater is the only school the Monarchs have not seen this year as their scheduled contest was cancelled because of snow earlier in the season. 

Methodist will hope to advance through the First Round to the World Series for the first time since 1996.

Game schedules and more information will be released as it is made available throughout the week leading up to the tournament.

SITES:

Hosted by Eastern College Athletic Conference, Harwich, Massachusetts

1. Wheaton (Massachusetts) (31-11)
2. Eastern Connecticut State (34-10)
3. Williams (25-8)
4. Curry (27-7)
5. Keene State (29-13)
6. Western New England (27-10)
7. St. Joseph's (Maine) (30-10)

Hosted by Ferrum College, Ferrum, Virginia

1. Emory (35-7)
2. Salisbury (32-8)
3. York (Pennsylvania) (29-12)
4. Methodist (29-13)
5. Bridgewater (Virginia) (21-21)
6. Ferrum (22-16)
7. Villa Julie (24-20)

Hosted by College of Wooster, Wooster, Ohio

1. Wooster (40-5)
2. Otterbein (31-11)
3. Hope (28-11)
4. Marietta (28-14)
5. Ohio Wesleyan (24-13)
6. Mount St. Joseph (33-9)

Hosted by Alvernia College, Boyertown, Pennsylvania

1. Kean (35-8)
2. The College of New Jersey (32-9)
3. Johns Hopkins (35-9)
4. Gwynedd-Mercy (30-10)
5. Frostburg State (31-13)
6. Elizabethtown (22-16)
7. Wilkes (24-10)

Hosted by Ithaca College, Auburn, New York

1. Cortland State (35-4)
2. Ithaca (24-13)
3. St. John Fisher (26-11)
4. Manhattanville (23-17)
5. Trinity (Connecticut) (28-6)
6. Skidmore (20-18)
7. Westfield State (20-15)

Hosted by Illinois Wesleyan University, Bloomington, Illinois

1. Luther (29-9)
2. Illinois Wesleyan (32-11)
3. Carthage (32-11)
4. Washington U. in St. Louis (30-9)
5. Webster (30-12)
6. Augustana (Illinois) (32-12)

Hosted by Chapman University, Orange, California

1. Chapman (35-5)
2. Pacific Lutheran (32-7)
3. Texas Lutheran (35-8)
4. Texas-Dallas (32-11)
5. George Fox (30-9)
6. Pomona-Pitzer (29-11)
7. Austin (22-23)

Hosted by University of Wisconsin, Stevens Point

1. Wisconsin-Stevens Point (28-14)
2. St. Thomas (Minnesota) (32-10)
3. Ripon (21-13)
4. St. Olaf (31-8)
5. Wisconsin-Oshkosh (32-10)
6. St. Scholastica (36-6)

First round matchups for the championship site will be as follows:

Ferrum regional winner vs. Wisconsin-Stevens Point regional winner

Illinois Wesleyan regional winner vs. Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference regional winner

Chapman regional winner vs. Wooster regional winner

Alvernia regional winner vs. Ithaca regional winner

- Courtesy NCAA