Six teams. One automatic bid. Plenty at stake.

It’s postseason time in the NCAA Division III baseball world, and many of the teams in the New England Women’s and Men’s Athletic Conference playing for a guaranteed shot in the NCAA D-III Tournament are accustomed to winning some hardware and making runs at a national title.

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Top-seeded Salve Regina is the most recent program from the NEWMAC to get a taste of the best of the best, reaching the final four of the national tournament and coming within a couple of results of making history. The Seahawks would love for history to repeat itself this month, but there are no guarantees when backs are against the wall.

The action begins Wednesday and extends into Sunday, with every pitch being streamed live and exclusively on FloCollege — up to and including the championship celebrations.

Here’s a look ahead at the NEWMAC Baseball Championship with all that you need to know for all six teams in the league left standing:

NOTE: All first pitch times are listed in Eastern Time.

No. 1 Salve Regina Baseball

Record: 29-7 overall (13-3 NEWMAC)

First game: vs. No. 4 Clark/No. 5 Wheaton winner, 3:30 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: The Seahawks’ mission for the 2025 season hasn’t been based around winning as much as it’s been about being dominant while doing it. After making the D-III College World Series for the first time in program history last year and advancing to the national semifinals, Salve entered the year ranked No. 2 in the D3baseball.com Preseason Poll and has largely kept its reputation intact as a threat to return to the College World Series, ripping off a 14-game winning streak to close the regular season and wrapping up the top seed for the NEWMAC Championship with it. 

Dominant pitching in essentially every major metric has been the key; the Seahawks have the NEWMAC’s lowest ERA at 2.69, most strikeouts at 355 and joint-most saves at 10.

Impact player: Brayden Clark, RHP

The ace of the Seahawks’ rotation going into this season was expected to be All-American and reigning NEWMAC Pitcher of the Year Sean Mulligan, but Salve’s plans in the rotation were forced to change as Mulligan hasn’t pitched once this season. Enter the next man up in Clark, who has seamlessly transitioned into being an All-America candidate in his own right. 

The graduate student was already a fantastic pitcher for the Seahawks well before his breakout year as the NEWMAC’s top arm this spring, but with a 9-2 record and a 2.00 ERA — plus a ridiculous 92 strikeouts in just 67⅓ innings thus far this season — this time around, Clark has evolved into someone who can take Salve back to the College World Series with some elite-level outings.

No. 2 Coast Guard Baseball

Record: 25-12 (12-4)

First game: vs. No. 3 MIT/No. 6 Babson winner, 3:30 p.m. Friday

The lowdown: Having already set a school record for wins in a season, Coast Guard is having a ton of fun on the diamond right now — and can have even more by securing a trip to what could be the Bears’ first NCAA Tournament appearance in program history. 

They’re in great position as of this writing to do just that, being ranked third in the seven-team Region I rankings released by the NCAA late last month and likely only needing to avoid a total meltdown in the NEWMAC Championship to punch their ticket to the Regional round.

 Of course, Coast Guard would much prefer to wrap up a historic NCAA bid for certain by winning the conference tournament, something the Bears are very capable of doing as they’ve beaten Salve Regina plus another top-25 team, Christopher Newport, thus far this season.

Impact player: Carson Cho, OF/INF

The versatile Cho can be deployed all over the diamond, and just about anywhere you put him is a good place to choose. After a promising freshman campaign a year ago in which he hit .323 with 23 RBIs, Cho has beefed up his numbers and spurned the sophomore slump, slashing .397/.481/.571 as of this writing with 27 RBIs, all while carrying an 11-game hitting streak going into the NEWMAC Championship. 

He additionally got home twice in the latter-half of a regular season-ending doubleheader last weekend at Emerson to make it 45 runs scored on the year, setting a new single-season school record, and has 19 multi-hit games.

No. 3 MIT Baseball

Record: 16-18 (11-5)

First game: vs. No. 6 Babson, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday

The lowdown: The Engineers’ record may have looked rough after 10 games (2-8), but diving deeper into MIT’s mark under the surface showed that it tested itself with four games against top-15 ranked teams in that stretch as part of a nonconference-play gauntlet. Its move to be battle-tested early paid off as the Engineers earned two victories over ranked teams by over 10 runs apiece — against No. 7 Salve Regina and No. 24 Babson — in NEWMAC play, teeing off on conference foes as they smacked 31 home runs in NEWMAC play alone, the most in league play by 14 homers. 

Also stealing 34 bases in just 16 league games, MIT, well-known for its brains, has shown off the brawn and athleticism against league opposition needed to be the NEWMAC Championship’s dark horse.

Impact player: Mason Estrada, RHP

Who says that the NEWMAC can’t have a little bit of southern flair now and again? Sure, Louisiana — where Estrada hails from — isn’t exactly a recruiting hotbed for NEWMAC teams, but the sophomore righty has found a home in Massachusetts after redshirting last year and erupting as the Engineers’ top weapon in the circle in his first collegiate season. 

Estrada won’t often go deep into his outings, but he usually doesn’t need to as he creates plenty of damage in the time he’s out there; he holds an unblemished 5-0 record across nine starts while carrying a 2.57 ERA, fanning 61 batters across just 35 innings pitching while holding hitters to a miniscule .153 batting average. He’s struck out a season-high 12 batters twice, doing it across a combined 11 innings in those two appearances, and has never allowed more than five hits in any of his starts.

No. 4 Clark Baseball

Record: 25-13 (9-7)

First game: vs. No. 5 Wheaton, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday

The lowdown: Do you like fun baseball? Clark is fun baseball. 

With 138 extra-base hits, a joint NEWMAC-best 623 total bases and a league-tops 92 stolen bases, the Cougars thrive in creating chaos and personified that mantra on their way to a strong 11-3 start to the season and a postseason appearance with four players on the roster batting at least .370 going into the NEWMAC Championship. 

Clark’s bats can explode, but on the flip side, so can its pitchers; the Cougars’ hurlers have the highest team ERA of any NEWMAC team in the tournament field at 6.67, allowing the second-most homers (19) to opposing teams in conference play with it as plenty of offense will be the key toward the Cougars making a run in the bracket. 

Impact player: Billy Sullivan, INF

Sullivan was batting over .460 as late as early April and looked to be on pace at one point toward a NEWMAC Player of the Year-caliber season. His red-hot hitting has cooled down a bit since then, albeit while still averaging .363 for the season going into the conference tournament, but one thing that won’t be going away anytime soon is his game-breaking speed. 

As the leader of the fastest offense in the NEWMAC, Sullivan swiped away a league-high 29 bags, the most in the conference by 10, and was never caught stealing in any of his attempts. Always a looming threat on the basepaths, Sullivan has stolen at least three bases in a game on four different occasions this spring, going a perfect 4 for 4 on attempts (which resulted in three runs scored) in a league game at WPI on April 22.

No. 5 Wheaton Baseball

Record: 21-17 (9-7)

First game: at No. 4 Clark, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday

The lowdown: A winning season can still be considered a down year by Wheaton’s lofty standards as the Lyons — who have made the D-III College World Series four times since 2006 — will now have to win every game away from home in the NEWMAC Championship in order to return to the NCAA Tournament after a year away. Wheaton is well-accustomed to making noise at this stage of the season, though, making it to last year’s tournament final against Babson (and beating almighty Salve Regina along the way) before coming up just short of another ticket to the Regional round. Perhaps a break from NEWMAC play to close the regular season was just what the Lyons needed to get a late boost, having won a trifecta of nonconference games to open up May and get ready for the tourney.

Impact player: Timmy Wagner, 1B

It’s not a good idea to allow runners to reach base when Wagner is waiting to pounce in the on-deck circle. Case in point: Wagner is slashing .405/.505/.627 going into the NEWMAC Championship and holds the title as the conference’s RBIs champion by a wide margin, with his total of 69 in the spring outpacing second place by 17. And while Wagner can go deep from time to time with six home runs this season, old-fashioned good, clean contact is often more than enough for him to do the job as he has 64 hits on the year with 15 doubles, both of which rank within the top three among all NEWMAC hitters. Having pitched earlier in his career, the move to focus Wagner on hitting only has worked wonders, and the Lyons now appreciate his production at the plate more than ever.

No. 6 Babson Baseball

Record: 23-12 (8-8)

First game: at No. 3 MIT, 3:30 p.m. Wednesday

The lowdown: In a testament to just how consistently solid the Beavers have been in the two decades-plus they’ve been under the leadership of coach Matt Noone, a sixth-place finish in conference play is the lowest place they’ve ever been in the NEWMAC since Noone took over prior to the 2003 season. 

Still, Babson wasn’t missing the NEWMAC Championship under any circumstances, and as the defending conference tournament champions, the Beavers aren’t looking to give up their crown as newfound underdogs. Playing a tough nonconference slate with four wins over ranked teams gives Babson some additional pedigree, though the Beavers do need to find more ways to get hitters out, especially by strikeout (league-low 188 Ks this spring). 

Impact player: Zander Teator, RHP/INF

Being a two-way player in college baseball isn’t all that uncommon, but playing both roles as well as Teator right now is. Despite only stepping up to the batter’s box in 29 games, Teator still ranks among the top 15 league-wide in RBIs with 38 as he’s completely smashed his previous career high of five, slashing an impressive .404/.481/.697 with it as he’s belted four home runs and 12 doubles — and added six stolen bases for good measure. 

Teator’s prime position is as the Beavers’ closer, however, where he’s been the NEWMAC’s best; he has seven saves with a 2.41 ERA in 16 appearances, allowing just five earned runs in 18⅔ innings to date as he is Babson’s guy out of the bullpen in a high-stakes situation.

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