The Bantams have been awarded the No. 3 seed in the New York Regional Tournament hosted by No. 2-seeded Rensselaer at Joseph Bruno Stadium in Troy, N.Y., and will play the No. 4-seeded Ithaca College Bombers (24-10) in its first game of the six-team, double elimination tournament on Thu., May 15 at 7 p.m.

Top-seeded Cortland State (31-9) will host No. 6-seeded Messiah (22-13) in the tournament opener at noon on Thursday, and Rensselaer (26-13) will host No. 5-seeded Mount St. Mary (31-6) at 3:30 p.m. The remaining games will be played at Bruno Stadium from May 16 thru May 18 with the tourney champion advancing to the NCAA Division III National Championship Tournament in Grand Chute, Wisc. from May 23 to May 27.

The Bantams, coached by Bill Decker, boast a 23-9 overall record, and have won 11 out of their last 13 games. Trinity is currently ranked No. 2 in New England and No. 15 in the nation, according to the latest American Baseball Coaches Association (ABCA)/Collegiate Baseball polls. The Bantams will be making their first appearance in the New York Regional Tournament, having competed in the New England Regionals in 1998, 1999, and 2000.

In the NESCAC Championship Tournament, Trinity won its opening game, 9-8, against Williams, before dropping a 3-2 decision at Amherst on a ninth-inning home run. The Bantams rebounded with a 14-4 drubbing against Williams in its first elimination game, and swept Amherst in a doubleheader, 11/5-6/3. Trinity senior co-captain Kurt Piantek (Wallingford, Conn.) batted .438 in the tournament (7-for-16) with three home runs and six RBI, and broke his own Trinity season records for home runs (14) and RBI (53) in the sweep against Amherst.

Sophomore Andrew Fries (Dublin, Ohio) was named the NESCAC Player of the Week for his outstanding performance in the league tournament. Fries went 8-for-21 (.381) at the plate with three home runs and 10 RBI while catching all five games. Bantam senior Robert Dolliver (Norwich, Conn.) and sophomore OF Matt Engster (Glastonbury, Conn.) also batted over .300 in the tournament (Dolliver .364, Engster, .375), while junior right-hander Kevin Tidmarsh (Meriden, Conn.) won two games on the mound to tie the Bantam record for best season record at 9-0.

Tidmarsh, arguably the top pitcher in the NESCAC this spring, is 9-0 with 53 strikeouts (2nd in NESCAC), an amazing six walks, and a 2.59 ERA (4th in NESCAC) in 59 innings. Sophomore righties Chris Rodday (Concord, Mass.), Mark Tremblay (Hooksett, N.H.), and Joe Westcott (Holyoke, Mass.) have combined for a 9-3 record with 81 strikeouts in 99 innings, while senior Craig Tredenick (Cornwall, Prince Edward Island) has been consistent in the late innings with four saves and 24 strikeouts.

Trinity received a big lift from its freshman hurlers in the NESCAC Tournament, as rookie left-hander Matthew Krant (Portsmouth, N.H.) allowed just one earned run over six innings to earn the victory in the first game of the sweep against Amherst, and classmate Greg Talpey (Westbrook, Conn.) totaled six innings with two earned runs including five strong innings in the tournament-clinching triumph against Amherst.

The Trinity offense batted a league-best .350 (11th in nation) and has scored 10.0 runs per game (3rd in nation) as a unit during the regular season while blasting more than twice as many homeruns (58) as any other team in the league. Piantek is batting .523 (1st in NESCAC, 2nd in nation) with a team-high 58 hits (1st in NESCAC), 44 runs (1st in NESCAC), eight doubles, 14 home runs (1st in NESCAC, 6th in nation), and 53 RBI (1st in NESCAC, 2nd in nation), while Dolliver has a .403 average (4th in NESCAC) with 48 hits, 42 RBI (2nd in NESCAC), and 10 homers (3rd in NESCAC), and sophomore Jeff Natale (Hamden, Conn.) is hitting .427 (3rd in NESCAC) with a team-high 12 doubles (1st in NESCAC, 10th in nation), 40 runs (3rd in NESCAC), 44 hits, six homers, and 31 RBI.

Three other Trinity every day players are batting over .300 this spring, along with three others Bantams with at least 40 at-bats. Sophomore SS Bill Wise (Longmeadow, Mass.) sits at .348, senior co-captain IF Jayme Dorr (Osterville, Mass.) is batting .324 (44 hits, league-high 44 runs, nine doubles, nine homers, 32 RBI), and Fries is hitting .331 (40 hits, 28 runs, five homers, 26 RBI). Junior Erik Shattenkirk (New Rochelle, N.Y.) is hitting .350, sophomore Aaron Goldstein (Edina, Minn.) is at .316, and Engster is at .340.