LIU baseball secures NEC title, bid to NCAA tournament

The top-seeded LIU baseball team won the Northeast Conference Tournament title and automatic bid to the NCAA Tournament with a 7-0 win over No. 2 Bryant on Sunday afternoon at Dodd Stadium in Norwich, Connecticut.

It will be LIU’s third NCAA Division I tournament appearance in program history and second under manager Dan Pirillo. LIU, which has a Division I program-record 37 wins this season, also won its second NEC title in program history.

LIU beat Bryant 6-4 in the 13 innings in the semifinals Saturday to advance to Sunday’s championship. LIU needed just one win on Sunday to claim the title in the four-team double elimination tournament, but lost the opening game to Bryant, 7-2.

The Sharks jumped out to a 2-0 lead in the first inning of the second game on an RBI double from Michael Edelman and RBI single from Carlton Harper. LIU tacked on three more runs in the fifth inning on RBI singles from Giovanni Ciaccio and Harper. Ciaccio scored later in the inning on a passed ball. Ciaccio and Harper added RBIs in the eighth inning.

That was more than enough for LIU starter Nick Torres, who pitched six and a third scoreless innings, allowing just four hits and two walks, while striking out five. Nick DeSalvo relieved Torres in the seventh and finished the game.

Harper went 3-for-4, while Seth Surrett, Edelman and Ciaccio each had two hits in the clinching win.

LIU (37-19) will find out its seeding and opponent for the upcoming tournament during the NCAA Selection Show on Monday at 12 p.m.