Worcester, MA --- For the first time in program history, the WPI baseball team is headed to the NCAA Division III Championships. 

The Engineers will face Suffolk on Wednesday at 10am in the first round of the New England Regional hosted by Eastern Connecticut. 

The Crimson and Gray, led by fourth-year head coach Mike Callahan, are 28-11 on the season and shared the NEWMAC regular season title and captured last weekend's ECAC Division III New England championship.

"It's cool to think it's the first time in 106 years that it has happened," said Callahan. "It's a nice reward for all the hard work the guys have put in this year."

The senior class of Conor Fahey (Cumberland, RI), Scott McNee (Falmouth, MA), Ethan Brown (Lunenburg, MA), Ben Erle (Boylston, MA) and Jonathan Quintero (Miami, FL) have amassed 82 victories over their four years.  The total is 20 more than the next highest for a class in the 106-year history the program.

Fahey, the 2009 NEWMAC Pitcher of the Year, is 8-1 with 3 saves and 104 strikeouts.  His 27 career wins are the most in school history.  McNee, the 2008 NEWMAC Player of the Year, leads the Engineers with a .388 batting average to go along with 11 homers, 47 runs and 39 RBI.

"Our senior class deserves it," stated Callahan "Four years of hard work has paid off. This was their goal and they accomplished it. It's a good feeling when you set a goal early in January and come May you can say you have accomplished it."

WPI will take on regional opponent Suffolk (30-9) in the first game of the double-elimination  tournament at ECSU. The Rams, winners of the Great Northeast Athletic Conference (GNAC) tournament, finished second in the GNAC regular season with a 11-3 mark in conference play. 

The two squads met in 2007 for the ECAC Division III New England Championships, with WPI winning a well-played series two games to none. 

The tournament features eight teams including host and top-seed Eastern Connecticut.  The regional is scheduled to conclude on Sunday with the champion heading to Appleton, WI for the Division III World Series.

Regional Tournament Website

The NCAA Division III Baseball Committee has announced the 54 teams that will compete in the 2009 NCAA Division III Baseball Championship.

Six teams will compete at five first-round sites; eight teams will compete at three first-round sites. All first rounds will use a double-elimination format. Thirty-five conference champions qualified automatically.

Winners of the eight first-round tournaments will qualify for the double-elimination championship at Fox Cities Stadium in Appleton, Wisconsin, May 22-26.

Hosted by Adrian, Adrian, Michigan
1. Heidelberg (36-7)
2. Wooster (35-8)
3. Marietta (29-15)
4. Adrian (31-9)
5. Concordia Chicago (33-13)
6. Rose-Hulman (31-12)

Hosted by Augustana, Moline, Illinois
1. Carthage (32-6)
2. Millsaps (32-8)
3. Wis.-Whitewater (26-17)
4. Washington-St. Louis (25-10)
5. Wartburg (27-18)
6. Fontbonne (25-17)

Hosted by Eastern Connecticut State, Mansfield, Connecticut
1. Eastern Conn. St. (35-6)
2. Southern Me. (35-7)
3. Trinity (CT) (29-5)
4. WPI (28-11)
5. Suffolk (30-9)
6. Westfield St. (23-15)
7. Husson (31-12)
8. Babson (21-15)

Hosted by Kean, Lakewood, New Jersey
1. Kean (34-9)
2. Keystone (37-4)
3. Montclair St. (26-17)
4. Penn St.-Behrend (31-11)
5. TCNJ (24-16-1)
6. Elizabethtown (27-13)
7. Alvernia (26-15)
8. Penn St.-Berks (21-20-1)

Hosted by Linfield, McMinnville, Oregon
1. Pomona-Pitzer (35-5)
2. Texas-Tyler (38-10)
3. Cal Lutheran 31-9)
4. George Fox (33-9)
5. Chapman (26-14)
6. Hendrix (22-21)

Hosted by Salisbury, Salisbury, Maryland
1. Salisbury (37-6)
2. Shenandoah (28-6)
3. N.C. Wesleyan (27-19)
4. Christopher Newport (24-11-2)
5. Wash. & Jeff. (33-12)
6. York (PA) (27-14)
7. Johns Hopkins (24-14)
8. Wash. & Lee (22-13)

Hosted by Skyline Conference and Farmingdale State, Farmingdale, New York
1. Cortland St. (30-12)
2. Ithaca (29-8)
3. Rensselaer (31-9)
4. Farmingdale St. (26-13)
5. Western New Eng. (29-15)
6. Clarkson (21-19)

Hosted by UW-Oshkosh, Oshkosh, Wisconsin
1. St. Olaf (29-12)
2. St. Thomas (31-10)
3. St. Scholastica (35-5)
4. St. Norbert (23-13)
5. Wis.-Stevens Point (29-14)
6. Beloit (28-7)