NEWARK, NJ – Rutgers-Newark is the top seed in the five-team ECAC Metro Baseball Championship and will host a semifinal round game on Friday in Bears & Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

The Scarlet Raiders will host the winner of the College of Mt. St. Vincent and Stevens on Friday at 4 p.m. while New Jersey Athletic Conference rival Ramapo (19-18) will square off against the Merchant Marine Academy (22-13) of the Landmark Conference in the tournament's other semifinal.

The fifth-seeded Mt. St. Vincent (19-16) of the Skyline Conference will travel to Hoboken, NJ, to take on the fourth-seeded Stevens Ducks (19-19) of the Empire 8 Conference in the tournament's play-in game on Wednesday.

Rutgers-Newark, which closed out its regular season with a 22-15 mark under the tutelage of eighth year head coach Mark Rizzi, will be making its first appearance in the ECAC tournament since capturing the title in 2006.

Should the Scarlet Raiders advance, the championship game will be played on Saturday at 7 p.m. in Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium.

ECAC METRO BASEBALL CHAMPIONSHIP Seeding
1. Rutgers-Newark
2. USMMA
3. Ramapo College
4. Steven's Institute of Technology
5. College of Mt. St. Vincent (CMSV)

Play-in game
Wednesday, May 6th, 2009
Mt. St. Vincent @ Stevens Tech., 7:00PM

Semifinals
Friday, May 8th, 2009
Steven/CMSV winner @ Rutgers-Newark, 4:00PM
Ramapo @ Merchant Marine, 3:30PM

ECAC Metro-DIII Championship
Saturday, May 9th 2009
If Rutgers-Newark wins Friday game:  7:00pm @ Bears and Eagles Riverfront Stadium
If Rutgers-Newark loses Friday game:  at highest remaining seed