Rider and Fairfield to Compete in 2021 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship; MAAC Earns Two Selections for First Time
EDISON, NJ (May 31, 2021) – For the first time in conference history, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) will have two teams competing in the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship. Rider University, the 2021 MAAC Baseball Tournament Champion, and Fairfield University, the 2021 MAAC Regular Season Champion, have been selected to the field of 64 teams as announced on the NCAA Selection Show on Monday.
The Regionals of the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship is a double-elimination tournament between four teams, with the winner of each regional moving on to compete in a Super Regional.
Rider (23-16, 18-16 MAAC) will travel to Ruston, LA to face regional host Louisiana Tech (40-18, 22-8 C-USA), the tournament’s No. 16 overall seed, at the new J.C. Love Field at Pat Patterson Park on Fri., June 4, at 7 p.m. EST. The game will be broadcast on ESPN3. Joining the two teams in the Ruston Regional are No. 2 seed NC State (30-17, 19-14 ACC) and third-seeded University of Alabama (31-24, 12-17 SEC).
The Broncs captured the MAAC Baseball Championship for the third time in program history, and their first since 2010, after defeating top-seeded Fairfield, 7-2, in Game 6 of the championship round. The Broncs finished the conference championship with a 5-0 record in the quarterfinal and championship rounds, outscoring opponents by a combined total of 40-20. Following the conclusion of the championship round, Jordan Erbe was named the MAAC Baseball Championship’s Most Valuable Player after batting .538 (7-for-13) for the championship round with two runs scored and three RBI.
Fairfield (37-3, 34-1 MAAC) became the first MAAC team to earn an at-large bid for the NCAA Division I Baseball Championship after being selected as the 3-seed for the Austin Regional, hosted by the University of Texas at Austin. The Stags will begin their tournament run against the region’s No. 2 seed, Arizona State University (32-20, 16-14 Pac-12), on Fri., June 4, at 7 p.m. EST from UFCU Disch-Falk Field. Along with regional host and No. 2 overall seed Texas (42-15, 17-7 Big 12), the Austin Regional will have fourth-seeded Southern University (20-28, 13-11 SWAC), champions of Southwestern Athletic Conference (SWAC).
Fairfield is in the midst of a historic season, currently sitting with a 37-3 overall record that has set a new program record for total wins in a season. On April 26, the Stags earned their first-ever national ranking, as they were ranked No. 23 in the Baseball America Top 25. They have also received a Top-25 ranking by Collegiate Baseball News. The Stags collected eight All-MAAC and two All-Rookie selections, and received three MAAC Major Awards including Player of the Year (Mike Caruso), Relief Pitcher of the Year (Bryson Cafaro), and BSN Sports Coach of the Year (Bill Currier).
This is the eighth time in the history of the MAAC that multiple teams have been selected to compete in the same NCAA Championship. The complete list can be found below:
| Year |
Sport |
Team #1 |
Team #2 |
| 2021 |
Baseball |
Fairfield University |
Rider University* |
| 2012 |
Men’s Basketball |
Iona College |
Loyola University (MD)* |
| 2008 |
Men’s Soccer |
Fairfield University* |
Loyola University (MD) |
| 2007 |
Men’s Soccer |
Loyola University (MD)* |
Saint Peter’s |
| 2001 |
Women’s Basketball |
Fairfield University |
Siena College* |
| 1995 |
Men’s Basketball |
Manhattan College |
Saint Peter’s* |
| 1989 |
Women’s Basketball |
Holy Cross* |
La Salle |
| 1988 |
Women’s Basketball |
Fairfield University* |
La Salle |
*Denotes MAAC Champion
**No Longer Member of the MAAC
The 2021 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship runs from June 4
th through June 30
th, culminating with the eight-team College World Series at TD Ameritrade Park Omaha in Omaha, NE from June 19 - 29/30. For more information on the 2021 NCAA Division I Baseball Championship, visit
ncaa.com/baseball.
About the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference:
With 11 institutions strongly bound by the sound principles of quality and integrity in academics and excellence in athletics, the Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference (MAAC) celebrates its 40
th year of competition during the 2020-21 academic year. Current conference members include: Canisius College, Fairfield University, Iona College, Manhattan College, Marist College, Monmouth University, Niagara University, Quinnipiac University, Rider University, Saint Peter’s University, and Siena College.