INDIANAPOLIS – The IUP baseball program was among the at-large selections to the 2024 NCAA DII Baseball Tournament as the No. 5 seed in the Atlantic Region, officially announced on Sunday night. It marks the first NCAA Tournament berth for IUP in 34 years, last making the field in 1990.
IUP continues its upward trajectory under third-year head coach
Steve Kline. IUP is 33-15 overall, finishing second in the Pennsylvania State Athletic Conference (PSAC) West in 2024.
The Crimson Hawks were the final remaining school from the PSAC West in this year's conference tournament, picking up big victories against Millersville and Shippensburg.
The NCAA Division II Championship field is made up of 56 teams. Conference champions (22 teams) earn an automatic bid to the tournament field with 33 at-large selections.
The Atlantic Region includes schools from the PSAC, the Mountain East Conference (MEC) and select independent institutions.
Kline and the Hawks have orchestrated an impressive turnaround over the last several years. IUP went 2-35 in 2021 before posting a 27-22 mark in 2022, an improvement of 25 victories year over year. From there, the Hawks clinched a berth in the PSAC Tournament in consecutive seasons in 2023 and 2024. It was the first time in over a decade (2010-11) that IUP has made consecutive conference tournament appearances.
IUP's 33 wins are the most in a single season for the program since 2008 (36-19 record).
IUP faces fourth-seeded Charleston (W.Va.) in a regional hosted at No. 1 West Chester. East Stroudsburg hosts another regional pod as the number two seed.
Regional competition run May 16-19, super regional games on May 24-25 and championship bracket games will take place June 1-8 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, North Carolina.
Eight teams advance to Cary and will be re-seeded before double-elimination games to decide the national champion.
2024 DII Baseball Atlantic Region Breakdown
(1) West Chester *
(4) Charleston (W.Va.) vs. (5) IUP – May 16
(2) East Stroudsburg * vs. (7) Frostburg State
(3) Millersville vs. (6) Seton Hill
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For coverage of the IUP baseball program, follow the Crimson Hawks on X (Twitter) and Instagram @IUPBaseball and online at IUPathletics.com.
