April 28, 2010

MOUNT OLIVE COLLEGE AND TOWN OF CARY TO HOST 2010 NCAA II BASEBALL NATIONAL FINALS – ADVANCE TICKETS ON SALE NOW

Cary, NC- For the second year in a row, Mount Olive College will partner with Town of Cary as hosts for the National Finals of the 2010 NCAA Division II Baseball National Championship May 22-29 in Cary, N.C. Mount Olive College and Town of Cary co-hosted the 2009 National Finals and will also host the 2011 National Finals. The National Finals will take place at the USA Baseball Training Complex in Western Cary. The Town of Cary was selected as the home of USA Baseball in 2002. The complex has played host to numerous college baseball games and served as the home field for University of North Carolina during the 2008 season.

Discounted advance tickets are on sale now through May 7 at $4 per session. After May 7, tickets are $7 per session for adults and $5 per session for children 12 and under and seniors 55 and over. All-session tickets are available for $25. Tickets and championship information are available by going to www.moctrojans.com or ncaa.com.

Selected by the NCAA as an "NCAA Championship City", the Town of Cary is designated as one of six premier collegiate athletics host communities. Cary joins Cleveland, Ohio; Indianapolis, Ind.; St. Louis, Mo.; San Antonio, Texas; and San Diego, Calif, as cities with this designation. Cary has hosted numerous NCAA national championships, including Division I Men’s and Women’s Soccer Championships and the 2009 Division II Baseball National Finals. Lynn University (Fla.) defeated Emporia State University (Kan.) 2-1 in last year’s national championship game.

Mount Olive is the only Conference Carolinas school to be the host for the National Finals of an NCAA Championship. Mount Olive played host to the NCAA Division II Baseball South Atlantic Regional in 2007 and 2008. The 2007 regional took place in Kinston, N.C., while the 2008 regional was held at Scarborough Field on the campus of Mount Olive College.

After a runner-up finish in the 2007 regional, Mount Olive won the 2008 regional and made its first-ever appearance in the NCAA Division II Baseball National Finals. The Trojans posted a 58-6 record in 2008 and won all four games in the National Finals for the first national championship in school history in any sport. Mount Olive won this year’s Conference Carolinas championship to earn an automatic bid to the Southeast Regional of the 2010 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.

“Mount Olive College is excited to be hosting the NCAA Division II Baseball Finals,” said Mount Olive College Director of Athletics Jeff Eisen. “We had a great tournament last year and look forward to bringing championship college baseball back to the area again this year.”

Cary is the sixth city to host the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship, dating back to 1968. Springfield, Mo., hosted the first four national championships, followed by an eight-year run in Springfield, Ill, and five years in Riverside, Calif. The national championship moved to Montgomery, Ala., in 1985 and stayed there through 2007. Mount Olive won the 2008 national title in Sauget, Ill., just east of St. Louis, Mo.

The NCAA II Baseball Championship is a 48-team tournament, comprised of eight regionals. The eight regional winners will advance to the National Finals in Cary.

At more than 130,000 people, Cary is a thriving community in the heart of central North Carolina and has been praised for its high quality of life by MONEY Magazine, Forbes and Frommer’s. Often referred to as North Carolina’s Technology Town, Cary is served by an award-winning Town government of 1,100 professionals who focus every day on enriching the lives of their citizens by creating an exceptional environment and providing exemplary services that enable their community to thrive and prosper. The Town of Cary website is located at www.townofcary.org.

Primary Contacts:

David Shulimson, Sports Information Director
Mount Olive College
(919) 658-7802
dshulimson@moc.edu