The regular season Colonial Athletic Association (CAA) champions earned an at-large bid to the NCAA Baseball Championship on Monday and will compete later this week along with Elon, Army and host Virginia at the Charlottesville (Va.) Regional.
For UNCW, it’s the third at-large bid and marks the sixth trip to the postseason overall since 2003. In 2003, the Seahawks also earned an at-large bid and reached the finals of the Baton Rouge, La., Regional hosted by LSU.
The Seahawks will face longtime rival Elon, who made a run through the Southern Conference tournament to win the league’s automatic bid. The Phoenix also announced last week that the school will join UNCW in the CAA beginning in 2014-15.
Joining the Seahawks in the NCAA tournament from the CAA are tournament champion Towson and tournament and regular season runner-up William & Mary. Towson will compete in the Chapel Hill regional with top-seeded North Carolina, while the Tribe plays in the Raleigh regional, hosted by N.C. State.
The last time the CAA had three schools playing in the NCAA tournament was 2001, when William & Mary (Clemson Regional) won the tournament title and advanced to the postseason along with East Carolina (Wilson Regional) and VCU (Baton Rouge Regional). The CAA also sent three representatives in 1995 (James Madison, Richmond and Old Dominion) and 1999 (East Carolina, Richmond and VCU).
All games of the Charlottesville Regional will be broadcast on ESPN3. UNCW will take on the Phoenix Friday, May 31.
