NEW HAVEN, Conn. (May 16, 2026) – Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference champion Wilmington University moved to within one victory of capturing the 2026 NCAA Division II East 1 Regional Baseball Championship tournament with a 9-5 victory over host Bentley University on Saturday afternoon in Waltham, Mass.
Meanwhile, CACC at-large representative Felician University was denied in its bid to repeat as regional champion, falling one run short of a return trip to the East Super Regional. Felician advanced to the East 2 Regional final with a 12-6 victory over Southern New Hampshire University in Uniondale, N.Y., but was turned back for the tournament championship by host Molloy University, 3-2.
Molloy, the East Region’s No. 2 seed, will face either No. 4 seed Wilmington or No. 1 seed Bentley in next weekend’s best-of-three super regional. The Wildcats and Falcons will meet again on Sunday at 11 a.m. at DeFelice Field, with Wilmington needing one victory to advance. If Bentley wins, another game would immediately follow.
On Saturday in Waltham, No. 4 seed Wilmington (41-15) fell behind, 4-0, after three innings. But the Wildcats rallied for seven runs in the middle three frames, powered by home runs from Brett Walmsley, Brian Klumpp, and Tyler Pirrung, and kept the Falcons off the scoreboard until a single run in the ninth. Xavier Cortez worked through the seventh inning, allowing seven hits with nine strikeouts, and Pirrung and Zach Frame drove in three runs each.
In Uniondale, Felician used a five-run third inning and a strong pitching performance from Christian Colmery to eliminate Southern New Hampshire. Colmery yielded one run on three hits with five strikeouts over six innings, departing with his team ahead, 8-1. Andrew DeAngelis had four of the Golden Falcons’ 14 hits, Bryce Curry had a double, triple, and four RBI, and Luis De La Cruz was on base five times.
The final saw each pitching staff work into and out of trouble for much of the game, as both the Lions and Golden Falcons reached double figures in runners left on base. Molloy tied the score, 2-2, with a run in the fifth, and the game ultimately came down to the ninth inning. A two-out RBI single by Charlie Imhof put Molloy ahead, while Felician could not leverage a one-out Matt Murphy single and a pair of two-out walks in the bottom half. Curry had two more hits for the Golden Falcons, who finish 35-23.
Bentley is ranked No. 10, Molloy No. 24 and Southern New Hampshire No. 25 in the most recent national Division II coaches poll.
Founded in 1961, the Central Atlantic Collegiate Conference has been affiliated with NCAA Division II for 20 years. Conference institutions compete for championships in 17 sports – seven for men, nine for women, and one co-ed. The CACC contains 11 full members in Connecticut, Delaware, New Jersey, New York, and Pennsylvania. Membership includes the University of Bridgeport, Caldwell University, Chestnut Hill College, Dominican University New York, Felician University, Georgian Court University, Goldey-Beacom College, Holy Family University, Post University, Thomas Jefferson University, and Wilmington University.