DUDLEY, Mass. – The Nichols College baseball team will take part in the 2016 Eastern College Athletic Conference (ECAC) Division III Baseball New England Championship. The Bison have claimed the No. 3 seed and will host No. 6 Elms College on Wednesday at 3:00 p.m. at the Nichols Baseball Field.

The Bison (24-16) received their invite into the ECAC Tournament after posting a program-record for wins and advancing to their first Commonwealth Coast Conference (CCC) Tournament since 2009. The Blazers (31-12) claimed the No. 2 seed in the New England Collegiate Conference (NECC) Tournament last week and were eliminated in the Semifinal Round by Southern Vermont.

"It means a lot to play in the ECAC," said Nichols head coach Nick Puccio. "Whenever you are able to play in the post season it's a great experience especially for our young club. Many programs have done well in the ECAC, and have led to successful regional runs in later years. As a program we are excited to compete with some great teams."

The Bison saw a conference best four student-athletes named to the CCC First Team, all of which are sophomores, including Cam Cook (Phoenixville, Pa.), Ross Caswell (Randolph, Vt.), Nick Roy (Middletown, Conn.), and Kevin Kirley (Clinton, Mass.).

Junior Matt Hardy (North Attleboro, Mass.) – who was named CCC Third Team a year ago – was tabbed to the CCC Second Team while sophomore Brendan Martin (Nashua, N.H.) and senior Benjamin Harrow (North Reading, Mass.) were named to the CCC Third Team.

The Blazers saw senior Tom Weldon (Springfield, Mass.) tabbed the NECC Pitcher of the Year and head coach Scott Netkovick named the NECC Coach of the Year following a program-record for wins (31). Six members of the Elms ball club were named to the NECC All-Conference Teams including Weldon to the First Team, senior Andrew Sadowski (Northampton, Mass.), juniors Jordan Zima (Berlin, Conn.) and Stephen Harrison (Southbury, Conn.) and sophomore Dan Brunetti (Enfield, Conn.) to the Second Team, and junior Tim Gelzinis (North Dighton, Mass.) was elected to the Third Team.

"Elms had a great year," said Puccio. "30-win teams are not easy to find. It going to be a tough challenge for our club."

Nichols trails in the all-time series to Elms (4-2) while the two teams last played each other in 2013 – in which the Blazers won 15-2 at the Nichols Baseball Field. Harrow – who was a freshman at the time – drove in a run on a pinch hit single in the eighth. The Bison last defeated the Blazers in 2012 by a score of 12-7.

The Bison and Blazers will battle on Wednesday at the Nichols Baseball Field with the first pitch set for 3:00 p.m.