NORTH DARTMOUTH, Mass. - The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has chosen Eastern Connecticut State University and the Little East Conference to co-host the New England Region of the 2009 NCAA Division III Baseball Tournament. The Eastern Baseball Stadium in Mansfield, Conn. is just one of eight pre-determined sites for the national tournament field.

 "The conference office is looking forward to assisting Eastern Connecticut in hosting the NCAA Division III Baseball New England Region, "Commissioner Jonathan C. Harper said. "It is our expectation that this regional will be a first-class event for student-athletes, coaches, parents and fans that will travel to Mansfield."

The Warriors will serve as the host institution for the 16th time in the 34-year history of the championship. The Eastern Baseball Stadium opened in April 1, 1998, and has hosted the New England Regional three prior times. The stadium is located just over the Willimantic city line, one-half mile north of the main campus.

The NCAA Division III Baseball Selection Committee is scheduled to announce the pairings for each of the eight regional fields the morning of Monday, May 11. The regional tournament will begin on Wednesday, May 13 and the champion will be crowned on Sunday, May 17. The championship team from the New England Region will advance to the 2009 NCAA Division III Championship Round in Appleton, Wisconsin.

If you are unable to make the trip to Mansfield, Conn., you can follow all the action live on the Little East Conference Web site. The tournament championship page will provide full coverage of the New England Region with a link for real-time statistics and video broadcast for each of the games. The Eastern Connecticut sports information staff will be running live in-game statistics, while Bridgewater Television (BTV9) will be producing each broadcast.  

From 1976 through 1990, the national tournament was comprised of six-regional fields with the champion of each region advancing the NCAA Division III Championship Round. The Northeast and New York Regional Tournaments were established in 1991, expanding the field to the current-day eight-regional format. The New England tournament has been hosted by just three institutions besides Eastern Connecticut: The University of Southern Maine at both its on-campus facility in Gorham and at Hadlock Field in Portland - the home of the Double A Eastern League franchise, the Eastern Collegiate Athletic Conference (ECAC) at Whitehouse Field in Harwich, Mass., and Wesleyan University at Palmer Field in Middletown, Conn. Since 1998, the regional tournament has been staged in either Mansfield or Harwich.

Other sites for the 2009 NCAA Division III Regional are as follows: Augustana College (Ill.) (Central Region), Adrian College (Mideast Region), University of Wisconsin-Oshkosch (Midwest Region), State University of College at Old Westbury and the Skyline Conference (New York Region), Salisbury University (South Region), and Linfield College (West Region). The Mid-Atlantic Region has yet to be assigned.