WEST HARTFORD, Conn. – Coming of its most successful season, including the program's first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance, the Hartford baseball team has been selected to repeat as conference champions, the America East announced on Wednesday.
 
Receiving all but two first-place votes and 35 points, the Hawks, who won both the regular season and conference tournament titles last season, are projected to finish on top of the America East in 2019. Collecting the other two first-place votes was Stony Brook, which finished just behind Hartford with 32 points.
 
Rounding out the poll was UMass Lowell with 25 points. The River Hawks were followed by Maine (18), UAlbany (15), Binghamton (14) and UMBC (8). 
 
Hartford, which posted the program's fifth-straight 20-plus win season (26-31) in 2018, and wrapped up America East play with a 16-8 record, after starting the season 3-3 in conference play. The Hawks then traveled to Maine, where they won three straight games to take home the tournament championship.
 
In the America East Championship game, the Hawks led wire-to-wire to take the title from Stony Brook, 9-4. Then-junior Billy DeVito pitched an outstanding game, going seven innings and allowing two earned runs on five hits. Then-sophomore Zachary Ardito supplied the power, finishing with three hits, a career-high four RBI and a pair of runs to propel Hartford to the victory.
 
In the team's first-ever trip to the NCAA Tournament, Hartford was selected to play in the DeLand Regional, where it battled Stetson and USF in the opening round. The Hawks came up short against top-seeded Stetson before falling to third-seeded USF in an 11-inning affair in the Elimination Game.
 
Reigning America East Coach of the Year, Justin Blood, returns 29 players from last year's historic team. This group is highlighted by sophomore Nicholas Dombkowski, who became the first pitcher in conference history to win both America East Rookie of the Year and Pitcher of the Year honors in the same season, seniors Ashton Bardzell and Chris Sullivan, who were both All-Conference first team selection in 2018 and juniors Nathan Florence, Bryce Walker and Ardito, who all earned second team honors last season.
 
 The Hawks open their season on the road with a three-game series against UC Santa Barbara on Friday, Feb. 22, 2019. First pitch will be 5 p.m.