MAAC Tournament Game Day Central

RIVERDALE, N.Y. - The Manhattan College baseball team will begin defending its conference title on Thursday at the 2012 Metro Atlantic Athletic Conference Championships at Joe Bruno Stadium in Troy, N.Y. The top-seeded Jaspers will square off with #4 seed Rider (21-32, 13-11 MAAC) in the tournament's opening round. First pitch is scheduled for 3 p.m. Jasper fans can listen to all of Manhattan's MAAC Tournament games live at GoJaspers.com.

Manhattan (29-24, 18-6 MAAC) won the program's fourth MAAC Regular-Season Championship in the last five seasons under the leadership of first year head coach Jim Duffy. The Jaspers will collect their Regular-Season Championship trophy Wednesday at 7 p.m. at the league's annual awards banquet which can be viewed for free live on MAAC.tv.

The Jaspers will face either #2 Canisius or #3 Fairfield on day two of the double elimination tournament. Pay per view video of the entire MAAC Baseball Championship will be available at MAAC.tv.

The MAAC Champion will earn the league's automatic bid to the 2012 NCAA Tournament.