Baseball Begins Quest for Fourth Northeast Conference Title on Thursday

The Central Connecticut State University baseball team begins its quest for the Northeast Conference title on Thursday afternoon in Bridgewater, NJ at 3:30 p.m. The second-seeded Blue Devils will face the third-seeded Seahawks of Wagner on the first day of the championships. Central, who averaged almost nine runs a game and set a school-record with 66 home runs this season, is looking for its first title since 2004.

CCSU Postseason Notes

Fans can follow all of the action live by visiting www.NortheastConference.tv and viewing the Packcasts for every game of the tournament. You can also visit the NEC Baseball Tournament Headquarters for all of the information, including directions to the stadium, regarding the 2010 tournament. CCSUBlueDevils.com will have game stories, pictures and videos from every CCSU game during the tournament.

The Blue Devils earned the second seed in the tournament after finishing the regular season with a 29-20 overall record, and a 18-14 mark in NEC play. The Blue Devils won three of four games against each of the other three teams in the tournament. They were 9-3 overall against the other three teams in the field: Sacred Heart, Wagner and Monmouth.

The 2010 season has been mostly about offense for the Blue Devils. They batted .353 as a team, including three players with an average of .400 or better. As a team they hit 66 home runs, 25 more than the previous school record of 41. They scored 431 runs in 49 games, an average of 8.8 runs per game. They averaged 8.1 runs in league action in 32 games, and hit .346.

Leading the way for the Blue Devils is senior Sean Allaire. He enters the tournament batting .456, just one point shy of the school record of .457. His 93 hits are the second-highest single season total in school history, and he set a new school mark with 70 runs batted in so far in 2010. His 22 doubles are also a school-record and he is second on the team with 13 home runs. He has scored 59 runs.

Right behind Allaire is junior Pat Epps. If not for Allaire's numbers, Epps would be a Player of the Year candidate in the conference. He batted .413 with a school-record 17 home runs and 66 RBI on the year. His 81 hits are the third-highest single season total in school history, and his .496 on-base percentage is second on the team (behind Allaire's .515). Epps leads the team with 60 runs scored. He also set the school's career home run record this season, he now has 24 in his career.

Senior Richie Tri, a career .312 hitter in New Britain, is the third Blue Devils batting over .400 this season. He is hitting .404 entering the tournament with 15 doubles, six home runs and 38 runs batted in. After hitting .246 in his first two seasons, Tri is hitting .376 over the last two seasons with 124 hits, 12 home runs and 84 RBI.

Sophomore Mitch Wells (.390) and senior Tommy Meade (.379) are fourth and fifth on the team in hitting this season. Central posts five of the top seven hitters in the NEC this season. Allaire is first, Epps second, Tri is fourth and Wells and Meade are sixth and seventh respecitvely in the league. Central leads the NEC with its .353 average, 34 points higher than second place Bryant who hit .319.

Wells has 76 hits, third on the team, along with eight home runs and 43 RBI. He is second on the team, behind Allaire, with 29 multi-hit games this season. Allaire leads the way with 30.

Meade, who has also starred on the mound for the Blue Devils this season, is hitting .379 with 72 hits, nine home runs and 51 RBI in his final season with the Blue Devils. On the mound Meade is 3-1 with a 6.95 ERA this season. He has made eight starts and pitched 44.0 innings, the third-highest total on the team. His 24 strikeouts are third on the team.

Central enters the tournament at the #2 seed for the second time. They were also the second seed in 2008 and 2001, but did not win the NEC title either of those years. They are 18-13 all-time in the tournament, but just 1-4 during the last two seasons. They won NEC titles in 2002, 2003 and 2004 and are one of only two teams (Monmouth) to win multiple NEC titles since Central joined the league.

CCSU Tournament Notes...
• The Blue Devils qualified for the NEC Tournament for the 10th time in 12 years with an 18-14 league record.
• CCSU holds an 18-13 all-time record in the tournament and has won three league titles during that time. The Blue Devils and Monmouth are the only teams to win multiple league titles since CCSU joined the NEC.
• The Blue Devils posted a 9-3 record against the teams in this year's tournament field. They won three out of four games against each of the other three teams in the tournament.
• The Blue Devils shattered the school record for home runs in a single season in 2010. This season they have hit 66 home runs. The previous record of 41 was set in 1997 and reached again in 1998.
• Central will also set a new school record for batting average in a season. Entering the tournament they are hitting .353 as a team. The school-record is .325 set in 2003.
• The Blue Devils have also set a school mark in RBI (403) and are four hits shy of breaking the school record of 623 in a single season. Central has scored 431 runs this season, 26 shy of the school mark of 457 set in 2004.
• Allaire has set the single-season record for RBI with his 70 on the season. Epps has set the single season record for home runs with his 17. Allaire is one point shy of the school record for batting average. He is hitting .456 entering the tournament and the school record in .457. His 93 hits are seven shy of the school record of 100 set by Keith Stegbauer in 2004.