May 4, 2009

COLLEGEVILLE, PA - The Johns Hopkins baseball team earned its third consecutive Centennial Conference Championship Monday in Collegeville, PA when the tournament finale was officially called due to rain at 11:23 a.m.

The Blue Jays downed Franklin & Marshall in 10 innings on Friday, 7-6, before defeating Ursinus on Saturday, 11-1. Franklin & Marshall survived Ursinus on Saturday, 8-2, to make it into the final round of play against Johns Hopkins. The Blue Jays were the No. 2 seed while the Diplomats were the No. 3 seed.

Game six between F&M and JHU was scheduled for a 12 p.m. start on Sunday, but was moved to Monday at noon because of heavy rains in the area. The field was not able to be restored to a playable condition today because of the persistent precipitation and the remainder of the Centennial Conference Tournament has been cancelled.

Johns Hopkins is awarded the Centennial Conference title because of Centennial Championship Guideline III, which states that if the tournament cannot be completed and each team has played at least one contest, the highest remaining seed will receive the conference automatic qualifier to the NCAA Tournament.

The Blue Jays were awarded the Centennial Conference automatic qualifier to the NCAA tournament and will wait until May 10 for the NCAA Regional bracket to be announced.

Centennial Conference Championship Guidelines:

III. INCOMPLETE TOURNAMENT POLICY Only games 6 and 7 may be played on Monday. If the tournament has not completed five games by the end of Sunday, and if all teams have completed at least one contest, the highest remaining seed will receive the Conference AQ. Otherwise, the top seed as determined by the regular season will receive the automatic qualifier.