The New England College Baseball team reached heights never accomplished in the program’s history. The Pilgrims finished with a record of 29-18 following winning both the NECC tournament and a regional in the NCAA tournament.
In their first season in the New England Collegiate Conference they had 10-6 record in conference play. On Thursday, May 2nd they made history when they hosted and won a playoff game in Henniker over Lesley University 5-2. They were able to carry the momentum of that victory into the remainder of the conference tournament where they went on the road and defeated Mitchell College twice by scores of 5-0 and 2-1 to clinch their first ever spot in the NCAA tournament.
The Pilgrims would travel to the University of Southern Maine as the fourth seed in their NCAA regional. Despite facing competition that included the number three ranked team in the country in Southern Maine, the Pilgrims would win three out of the four games they played and clinch their first ever spot in Super Regionals. A 7-6 win in 13 innings would cap off a thrilling regional championship game.
The following weekend NEC would travel to play on the road at UMass Boston in the Super Regionals. After losing the first game 5-4, they would bounce back the following day to win 6-4 and set up a winner take all game for a spot in the Division III College World Series. Despite losing that game 6-2, the Pilgrims not only went further than any team in program history but further than any other school in New Hampshire.
The Pilgrims began the season with an 18-8 record through their first 26 games. However they would stumble near the middle of the season when they lost seven games in a row including a doubleheader at home against Mitchell College. They finished on a four game winning streak with back to back sweeps over Newbury and Elms College to enter the postseason with positive momentum.
Following the conclusion of the season, Head Coach Terry Doyle was named the Division III All-New England Coach of the year. Doyle who led the team and brought the program to a historic season had only taken over months before the start of it. Senior Nick Powers was also named to the Division III All-New England Team after he pitched a complete game victory against Southern Maine in the tournament. Senior Christian Aybar was named Third Team All-New England after setting program records for hits, runs and doubles.
