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Reading, Pa. (May 13, 2013) - Alvernia University (33-9) will be heading to PNC Field in Moosic, Pa.--the home of the Scranton/Wilkes-Barre Rail Riders--as the #4 seed for the NCAA Baseball Mid-Atlantic Regional and will face #5 Johns Hopkins (36-8) in the opening game Wednesday morning at 10:00.

The Crusaders are making their fifth straight NCAA appearance facing Johns Hopkins for the third time with a 1-1 record against the Blue Jays.

Alvernia earned the automatic qualifier into the NCAA Championships by winning the Commonwealth Conference.  The Crusaders were the top seed in the tournament and defeated #4 Widener in the opener, 4-0.  They topped Arcadia, 8-2, in the winners bracket final and beat Arcadia again, 3-1, in the championship game.

Alvernia is led by Commonwealth Player of the Year, Leon Stimpson (Philadelphia, Pa./Malvern Prep), who is batting .394 with 15 doubles, five home runs, and 40 RBIs.  Junior lefty Mike Weinhold (Robesonia, Pa./Conrad Weiser) enters the postseason with a 1.20 ERA and a .157 opponents' batting average.  Commonwealth Pitcher of the Year Kevin Becker-Menditto (Frederick, Md./Walkersville) comes into the NCAAs with a 0.29 ERA having given up one earned run in 31.0 innings.

All eight teams in the Mid-Atlantic Regional are scheduled to play one game on Wednesday.  The winner of Wednesday's game between Alvernia and Johns Hopkins will face the winner of the game between #1 Kean and #8 PSU-Harrisburg on Thursday at 4:30 p.m.  The two losers will play the first elimination game of the regional Thursday at 10:00 a.m.

2013 NCAA Mid-Atlantic Regional
#1 Kean University
Nickname: Cougars
Location: Union, NJ
Conference: NJAC
Record: 34-10
Head Coach: Neil Ioviero
Athletics Website:  http://www.keanathletics.com/landing/index

#2 Keystone College
Nickname: Giants
Location: LaPlume, PA
Conference: CSAC
Record: 33-8
Head Coach: Jamie Shevchik
Athletics Website: http://www.gokcgiants.com/index.aspx

#3 Misericordia University
Nickname: Cougars
Location: Dallas, PA
Conference: Freedom
Record: 36-9
Head Coach: Pete Egbert
Athletics Website: http://athletics.misericordia.edu/index.aspx

#4 Alvernia University
Nickname: Crusaders
Location: Reading, PA
Conference: Commonwealth
Record: 33-9
Head Coach: Yogi Lutz
Athletics Website: http://athletics.alvernia.edu/

#5 Johns Hopkins
Nickname: Blue Jays
Location: Baltimore, MD
Conference: Centennial
Record: 36-8
Head Coach: Bob Babb
Athletics Website: http://www.hopkinssports.com/

#6 Ramapo College
Nickname: Roadrunners
Location: Mahwah, NJ
Conference: NJAC
Record: 28-14-1
Head Coach: Rich Martin
Athletics Website: http://www.ramapoathletics.com/

#7 Franklin & Marshall
Nickname: Diplomats
Location: Lancaster
Conference: Centennial
Record: 23-19
Head Coach: Adam Taylor
Athletics Website: http://godiplomats.com/landing/index

#8 Penn State Harrisburg
Nickname: Lions
Location: Middletown, PA
Conference: NEAC
Record: 26-14
Head Coach: Ryan Brown
Athletics Website: http://athletics.hbg.psu.edu/landing/index