NIACC earns first-round bye at regionals

WATERLOO - The NIACC baseball team, which shared the ICCAC title with Iowa Central, enters the NJCAA Region XI tournament as the No. 2 seed.

NIACC (36-17 overall, 16-8 in the ICCAC) received a first-round bye and play at 3:30 p.m. Friday at Riverfront Stadium.

Sixth-seed Ellsworth faces seventh-seed Iowa Lakes in a play-in game at noon on Thursday. The winner of that contest faces third-seed Southeastern at 7 p.m. Thursday with that winner facing the Trojans on Friday.

The championship game is set for 3:30 p.m. on Sunday with a possibility of a second title game at 11 a.m. on Monday.

It is the second straight season that NIACC has shared the regular season league title and enter the regional tournament as the No. 2 seed.

Last season, the Trojans shared the regular-season crown with Southeastern, won the regional and district tournaments and advanced to the NJCAA Division II World Series for the third time in four seasons.

NJCAA Region XI tournament

At Riverfront Stadium (Waterloo)

Thursday's games

Noon - (6) Ellsworth vs. (7) Iowa Lakes

3:30 p.m. - (4) Kirkwood vs. (5) DMACC

7 p.m. - (3) Southeastern vs. Ellsworth/Iowa Lakes winner

Friday's games

Noon - Kirkwood/DMACC loser vs. Southeastern/Ellsworth or Iowa Lakes loser

3:30 p.m. - NIACC vs. Southeastern/Ellsworth or Iowa Lakes winner

7 p.m. - Kirkwood/DMACC winner vs. Iowa Central