The Misericordia University baseball team will open the 2019 NCAA Championships with a best-of-five series at Christopher Newport in Newport News, Va.

The series will begin with a doubleheader at noon, Friday, May 16.

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Misericordia, 32-11, is making its ninth straight NCAA Tournament appearance and is coming off its first trip to the D-III World Series a year ago.

Christopher Newport is 35-7 after winning the Capital Athletics Conference championship and is currently ranked first in the nation, according to d3baseball.com.  The Captains are making their 10^th appearance in the NCAA Tournament.

The winner of the Misericordia/Christopher Newport series will advance to next weekend's Super Regional where they will face the survivor of the double-elimination regional between Rowan, Salisbury, Washington & Jefferson and Penn State-Abington.

Misericordia is led by eight All-MAC Freedom selections, including Player of the Year Kenny Jarema and Pitcher of the Year Ian McCole.

Jarema led the MAC Freedom in batting (.438), on-base% (.571), hits (60) and runs (55).  He is third in the nation in on-base % and sixth in walks.

McCole earned two wins in the MAC Freedom Tournament to earn MVP honors.  He led the league in ERA (1.88) and strikeouts (57) and tied for the lead with a school-record tying 10 wins.  He ranks fourth in the country in wins.

Senior closer Kyle Melahn was also a first-team All-MAC Freedom selection.  He was second in the league in ERA (2.58) and fifth in strikeouts (47).  He is MU's career saves leader (15).

First baseman Tyler Holzapfel and right fielder Steve Weisensee were both first-team selections.  Holzapfel leads the team with 47 RBI and is fourth in hits (41) and runs (30).

Weisensee is fourth in batting (.376) and slugging % (.456) and second in hits (56) and runs (42).

Second baseman Billy Kerwien made the second team while designated hitter Brady Madden earned honorable mention.

Kerwien hit .322 with 26 RBI while Madden was fourth on the team in batting (.327) and second in RBI (37).

Starting pitcher Tom Jacob also earned honorable mention status.  He is 7-3 with a 3.13 ERA and 51 strikeouts.

Senior center fielder Parker Abate is third on the team in batting (.338), hits (46) and runs (33).

Misericordia is hitting .324 as a team and leads the nation with 97 hit by pitches.

Christopher Newport is led by 10 All-Capital Athletic Conference honorees, including six first-team selections.

Starting pitcher Josh Husby and reliever Tyler Jumper were both first-team pitchers along with catcher Ryan Grubbs, first baseman Nicholas Baham, shortstop Nick DiNapoli and third baseman Seth Woodward.

Second baseman Joseph Cutchins made the second-team along with outfielders Conner Clark, Jordan Mason and Trey Hicks. 

Baham leads the country with 19 home runs and Seth Woodward is tops in the nation with 55 walks.  Ryan Grubbs leads the country with a .622 on-base percentage and Conner Clark is second with 61 runs scored.

CNU ranks first in the nation in five categories: runs per game (12.1), home runs (72), on-base percentage (.463), walks (298) and slugging percentage (.565).