GLASSBORO, NJ – The Rowan University baseball team earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament. The Profs will travel to Trenton, NJ for the first round tournament on Wednesday, May 19-Sunday, May 23 at Waterfront Park.

Rowan (24-14-1), the sixth seed, plays the third seed Widener University (25-12) on Wednesday at 4:30 p.m. Also on Wednesday, fourth seeded Alvernia University (32-10) faces the fifth seed Keystone College (29-7) at 10 a.m. The top seed Johns Hopkins University (39-4) takes on eighth seeded Moravian College (26-13) at 1:15 p.m. and the second seed Kean University (34-10) plays seventh seeded Manhattanville College (22-19-1) at 7:45 p.m.

The national tournament is double elimination. The winner of the first round tournament at Trenton will advance to the finals of the NCAA Division III Championship Tournament on Friday, May 28-Sunday, June 1 at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, WI.

This is Rowan’s 19th appearance in the NCAA Tournament. The Profs’ last time in the postseason came in 2008. Rowan is 54-34 in the NCAAs and has advanced to the national finals sixth times. The Profs won the NCAA Division III Championship in 1978 and 1979 and finished third in 1977. Widener is in the national tournament for the sixth time and first since 1999. The Pride have a 6-10 record in the NCAAs. Widener earned an automatic berth as the Commonwealth Conference Champion.

Johns Hopkins returns to the NCAA Division III Tournament for the 17th time and fourth straight year. The Blue Jays are 34-31 all-time in the tournament and finished second overall in 2008. Johns Hopkins and Kean received automatic bids after capturing the Centennial Conference and New Jersey Athletic Conference Championships respectively. Kean is making its eighth appearance and fifth consecutive. The Cougars have a 19-12 mark in NCAA play and won the national title in 2007.

Alvernia is 8-12 in the postseason and is making its seventh appearance. The Crusaders received an at-large berth. Keystone is in the NCAAs for the third year in a row. The Giants are 5-4 all-time in the tournament. Keystone won the Colonial States Athletic Conference Championship for an automatic bid.

This is the second time Manhattanville has reached the national tournament, while Moravian is making its first appearance. The Valiants and Mules both earned automatic bids after winning the Freedom Conference and Landmark Conference respectively.

The schedule for the first round tournament is:

Wednesday, May 19
Game 1: #4 Alvernia University (32-10) vs. #5 Keystone College (29-7), 10 a.m.
Game 2: #1 Johns Hopkins University (39-4) vs. #8 Moravian College (26-13), 1:15 p.m.
Game 3: #3 Widener University (25-12) vs. #6 Rowan University (24-14-1), 4:30 p.m.
Game 4: #2 Kean University (34-10) vs. #7 Manhattanville College (22-19-1), 7:45 p.m.

Thursday, May 20
Game 5: loser game 1 vs. loser game 2, 10 a.m.
Game 6: loser game 3 vs. loser game 4, 1:15 p.m.
Game 7: winner game 1 vs. winner game 2, 4:30 p.m.
Game 8: winner game 3 vs. winner game 4, 7:45 p.m.

Friday, May 21
Game 9: winner game 6 vs. loser game 7, 10 a.m.
Game 10: loser game 8 vs. winner game 5, 1:15 p.m.
Game 11: winner game 7 vs. winner game 8, 4:30 p.m.
Game 12: winner game 10 vs. winner game 9, 7:45 p.m.

Saturday, May 22
Game 13: winner game 12 vs. loser game 11, 1 p.m.
Game 14: winner game 11 vs. winner game 13, 5 p.m.

Sunday, May 23
Game 15: winner game 14 vs. loser game 14 (if necessary), 1 p.m.