COLCHESTER, Vt. - The Saint Michael's College baseball team has claimed the No. 5 seed in this week's six-team Northeast 10 Conference Championship and will visit No. 4 Adelphi University on Tuesday for a single-elimination first-round game at 2 p.m. The winner advances to the double-elimination portion of the tournament, hosted by No. 1 Southern New Hampshire University between Thursday and Saturday. Ticket prices all championship are $10 for adults, $5 for seniors and children under 18, and free for current students at NE10 schools.
 
The Purple Knights (20-25, 18-18 NE10) broke the 1999 team's wins record (17) while more than doubling their prior mark for conference victories. Saint Michael's qualified for its first postseason appearance after playing one NE10 Championship contest in 2021, when all league programs competed in the postseason during a pandemic-altered campaign. The Purple and Gold seeks its first postseason victory. Adelphi (24-21, 20-16 NE10), which was ninth in last week's National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association (NCBWA) East Region rankings, took the regular-season series, 3-1, as the visiting team on its own field on March 28-29.
 
The Saint Michael's-Adelphi winner faces Southern New Hampshire on Thursday during the first game in the double-elimination bracket. In Tuesday's other first-round contest, No. 3 Saint Anselm College hosts defending champion No. 6 Pace University at 2:30 p.m. The winner of that game opposes No. 2 Bentley University on Thursday. The winner of the NE10 Championship earns an automatic berth into the NCAA Division II Tournament.
 
Under seventh-year head coach Jim Neidlinger, the Purple Knights turned a corner after being selected ninth - just one point clear of last place - in the NE10 Preseason Coaches' Poll. Saint Michael's dropped more than two runs off of its 2025 earned run average while setting school records for runs, hits, doubles, home runs (tie), RBI, walks, hit-by-pitch, sacrifice flies, saves, and pitching strikeouts.
 
Senior catcher/outfielder Sam Cavossa (East Falmouth, Mass./The Winchendon School), the program's career hits (184) and runs (104) leader, bats .368 behind a school-record 63 hits with 36 runs, 27 RBI, 11 doubles and 10 stolen bases. Junior catcher/third baseman Richard Gilboy (South Portland, Maine/South Portland) has driven in a school-record 46 runs and walked a school-record 30 times while also cracking 11 doubles. He and graduate student first baseman Max Kolifrath (Millbury, Mass./Millbury) are tied for first in program history with 91 career RBI. Kolifrath is the school's career home run king (20), with six coming this season among his 27 RBI.
 
Junior outfielder Josh Ayala (San Diego, Calif./Alexandria City/West Virginia Wesleyan) bats .317 with 29 runs, 21 RBI, 23 walks and 11 steals in as many attempts in his debut season as a Purple Knight. Sophomore third baseman Jerry Guzman (Valley Cottage, N.Y./Brunswick School) hit seven doubles while being plunked 13 times and also owns a school-record five saves as the Purple and Gold's most utilized closer. Junior catcher/outfielder Colin Kinsella (Winthrop, Mass./Winthrop) has scored 25 runs and driven in another 23.
 
Junior outfielder Jack Pattison (Vernon, Vt./Vermont Academy) hit .323 when healthy, slugging .521 and reaching base at a .492 clip. He scored 29 runs with 19 RBI, 11 steals, eight doubles, and a school-record 20 hit-by-pitches. Senior second baseman Jack Weber (Milford, Conn./Notre Dame) also bats .323 while driving in 26 and walking 24 times, and junior shortstop Trevor Arsenault (Websterville, Vt./Spaulding) has scored 23 runs and adds 17 RBI and seven doubles.
 
Senior Keegan Burke (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) totes a 4-3 record with 44 strikeouts in 54 innings, as his 155 career strikeouts are the most by any Purple Knight since before World War II. Twin brother Colin Burke (Amherst, N.H./Souhegan) is 3-2 with three saves and 34 strikeouts in 23 innings, first-year John Macdonald (Revere, Mass./Malden Catholic) has picked up three wins as a regular starter, and sophomore Griffin Dupuis (Rowley, Mass./Deerfield Academy) made a school-record 20 appearances, all out of the bullpen.