Framingham State Top Seed in ECAC Division III Baseball Playoffs

After finishing the season with a school record 26 victories, the Framingham State University baseball team has been selected as the top seed in the 2015 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III New England Baseball Championship.

The single elimination tournament will begin today, May 6 with fourth seed Western New England University (18-18) hosting fifth seed WPI (21-15) at 3:30 p.m.

The winner will advance to the semifinal round on Saturday, May 9, where they will face the Rams (26-18) at 2:30 p.m. at Salve Regina University, who will serve as the host for the semifinal and final rounds of the tournament.

The Rams were led on the mound by the 2015 MASCAC Pitcher of the Year and first team all-conference selection in Zack Kirby.

Kirby led the conference with a school record 99 strikeouts on the year as he became the Framingham State career strikeout leader. Kirby went 6-2 on the year with an ERA of 1.42 and recorded three shutouts and six complete games in 10 starts.

Offensively, the Rams were led first team All-MASCAC selection senior Billy Derosier and second team selection Mark Mainini.

Mainini led the Rams at the plate hitting .378 with 13 doubles, three homeruns and 25 RBI, while Derosier batted .348 with 11 doubles, a team-leading 11 homeruns and 38 RBI.

Rounding out the tournament are second seed Salve Regina University (24-16) who will face third seed Massachusetts Maritime Academy (17-12) in the other semifinal on Saturday. The winners of the two semifinals will meet in the finals on Sunday at 12 p.m.

No.1 Framingham State University vs. Western New England/Worcester Polytechnic Institute – 2:30 p.m. on Saturday, May 9 at Salve Regina University. The championship will be Sunday, May 10 at noon, if the Rams advance.