May 20, 2007

PHILADELPHIA - After a thrilling finish to the 2007 regular season, Xavier (27-29, 17-10 A-10) has secured the No. 4 seed in the 2007 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship. With the No. 4 seed, the Musketeers will take on No. 5 Rhode Island (22-27, 16-11 A-10) in the first game of the championship on Wednesday, May 23, with the first pitch slated for 12:00 pm at Fifth Third Field in Dayton.

In the teams' first meeting of the season, the Rams swept XU and ended Xavier's streak of 17 wins in 20 games during the middle of the season. Since that series, the Musketeers are 6-5 and finished the A-10 schedule 5-4, which included top seeded Charlotte in a three-game series.

After winning a program-high 44 games and a league-record 23 contests in Conference play, Charlotte is the top seed for the 2007 Atlantic 10 Baseball Championship. The 49ers (44-10/23-4), ranked 22nd nationally in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Poll, have won 10 of their last 11 games and lead the nation with a 2.29 earned run average while boasting a league-best .311 batting average. Vying for its first A-10 crown in its second year as a member of the Atlantic 10 Conference, Charlotte will play at 12:00pm on Thursday, May 24, after earning one of the two opening round byes.

Fordham (33-20/19-8) earned the other opening round bye as this year's No. 2 seed and seeks its first A-10 title since 1998. The Rams set a program record with 19 victories in A-10 play and enter the Championship riding a 10-game winning streak.

Seeking its second A-10 crown and first since 2003, Richmond (30-26/18-9) is the third overall seed. The Spiders secured their 11th 30-win season in the last 17 years and fifth berth in the A-10 Championship in the past six years.

Xavier (27-29/17-10) is making its first appearance in the Championship since 2004 and vies for its first-ever A-10 crown. Picked to finish 11th by the league's head coaches in the preseason, the fourth-seeded Musketeers established a program record for victories in Conference play with 17.

Rhode Island (22-28/16-11) earns its fifth consecutive berth in the A-10 Championship, the longest active streak in the Conference. The fifth-seeded Rams will try to capture their second A-10 title in three seasons.

Vying for its second A-10 crown in program history, St. Bonaventure (25-25/14-12) earns its third Championship berth in the past four seasons. The sixth-seeded Bonnies are led by senior first basemen Brian Pellegrini, the 2006 A-10 Player of the Year who has hit a school-record 15 home runs this season.

Fifth Third Field is the home of the Cincinnati Reds' Single A affiliate Dayton Dragons and will be hosting the A-10 Championship for the second time. Please check back to www.GOXAVIER.com for the latest information on Xavier baseball and the championship in the coming days.