Commencement season has arrived on college campuses, but for three area baseball teams, it’s the postseason, as well.

The University of Rhode Island is in Charlotte playing for a first-round bye in the Atlantic 10 Tournament. Bryant University is in Rindge, N.H., for the NCAA Division II Northeast Regional. And Wheaton College is in Harwich, Mass., for the NCAA Division III New England Regional.

URI (28-23-1, 14-9) and Charlotte (38-13-0, 17-7) will meet in a three-game series that will help determine the top two seeds for the Atlantic 10 Tournament starting next Wednesday at Camden, N.J. The Rams and 49ers have already qualified for the six-team tournament and are trying to secure a first-round bye awarded to the top two finishers. Second-place Xavier (22-29, 16-8) and third-place Duquesne (23-25-1, 15-8) are also in the running for a bye.

Temple (24-26, 14-10) and St. Bonaventure (27-21, 13-11) complete the top six heading into the final weekend of the regular season.

“We’re in a good spot, but this weekend is big,” coach Jim Foster said from Charlotte. “We hope to win two. If we sweep, that would be great, and we’d probably win the conference championship. It’s going to be difficult. They were Top 20 last year and Top 30 this year. But they can be beat. They have lost seven games in the conference.”

The 49ers are 24-6 at home.

Charlotte boasts eight players with at least 40 games played who are hitting over .300. Cory Shaylor leads the team with a .384 average. Chris Taylor is hitting .350 with 17 home runs and 64 RBI. Rob Lyerly is hitting .355 with 13 homers and 60 RBI. On the mound, starter Joe Yermal is 7-1 in 13 appearances and reliever Kelly McLain 6-0 in 20 appearances. Zach Rosenbaum is 5-1.

The Rams will challenge those stars with young pitching and a trio of .300 hitters. Sophomore starter Nick Greenwood is 4-6 with a 3.50 ERA. Eric Smith, also a sophomore, is 1-4 in 12 starts. Senior Brett Palanski has compiled a 6-3 record in 12 starts. They are the likely starters this weekend.

Freshman Chris Pickering (Lincoln) is 5-1 with a 3.94 ERA in 13 appearances. Sophomore reliever Tim Boyce (Swansea) is 4-1 with a 1.03 ERA in 16 games. Senior Jamie Degidio (Narragansett), primarily a middle reliever, is 2-2 in 16 appearances.

Catcher Zach Zaneski, a senior, leads the Rams attack at the plate. He is hitting .366 with 3 home runs and 41 RBI. He has started every game. Senior Shaun Hagey is hitting .355 and junior Dan Rhault (Lincoln) .318.

Zaneski is the A-10 player of the week. He had five hits and four RBI in a 2-1 weekend against UMass. He also threw out two runners attempting to steal and picked a runner off base. The recipient of the team’s Rick Ligi MVP Award, Zaneski is on the watch list for the Johnny Bench Award, presented to the top catcher in the nation.

“He’s one of the best catchers around and has played his best baseball of the year the last three weeks,” Foster said. “He has good timing. It’s a critical part of the season, and the draft is coming up. Whoever drafts him will be very happy. He’s a great kid, and he’s big and strong.”

Rhault had a big day at Northeastern Tuesday, going 4-for-8 in a doubleheader split, hitting two home runs, one a grand slam, and a triple, and driving in seven runs.

URI and Charlotte will play tonight at 6, tomorrow night at 6 and Saturday at noon. The Rams will return to Kingston for commencement on Sunday and leave next Tuesday for the A-10 Tournament.

Bryant (39-19) finished first in the Northeast 10 regular season but was upset in the tournament semifinals. Franklin Pierce won the tournament and automatic bid and is hosting the Northeast Regional. FP is the top seed, Bryant the second seed. Southern Connecticut, Caldwell, Dowling and C.W. Post are also in the field. The double-elimination tournament will continue through Sunday.

Bryant and fifth-seeded Dowling (28-17) will play today at 2:30. Bryant beat Dowling in a best-of-three series for the 2004 Northeast Regional title and advanced to the Division II College World Series.

Bryant is making its sixth, and last, appearance in the Division II Tournament. The Bulldogs will move up to Division I next year.

Ten Bulldogs received All-Northeast-10 recognition. Third baseman Jason Alexander, a .315 hitter, pitcher Eric Loh, who is 10-2 with a 2.22 ERA, and center fielder Nick Campbell, the team’s toughest hitter with a .357 average, made the first team.

Wheaton (32-8) is seeded second for the double-elimination Division III tournament that started yesterday at Whitehouse Field in Harwich. Trinity (37-0) is the top seed.

Wheaton is making its fourth consecutive NCAA appearance and eighth in nine years. The Lyons have won 30 games for the sixth time in their 11-year history. They are ranked 11th in the nation in the latest coaches association poll and have been ranked second in New England behind Trinity all season.

Wheaton’s top pitcher is junior Adam Gingras (Woonsocket), the NEWMAC pitcher of the year with a 7-0- record, one shy of the school record, a 1.61 ERA and 42 strikeouts. Sophomore Nick Kostaras (North Attleboro) is 5-0 with a 2.77 ERA and 40 strikeouts. Reliever Jared Barnes (North Attleboro) is 1-1 with a 2.63 ERA and 15 strikeouts in 13.2 innings. Closer Josh Simmons (Cranston West) is fourth in the nation with 10 saves in 16 appearances. He has 32 strikeouts in 26.1 innings.

Jeff Lieniek leads the Wheaton batters with a .372 average with 36 RBI and 35 runs.

The tournament runs through Sunday, if necessary.

A win for Bracey

Columbia pitcher Dan Bracey (East Greenwich) will never forget his first season with the Lions. The right-hander was a less-than-spectacular 2-5 with a 6.87 ERA in 14 appearances and 38 innings, but with the season on the brink of disappointment, he delivered.

In the fifth inning of the third and deciding game of the Ivy League championship series against Dartmouth, Bracey relieved starter Geoff Whitaker, who had given up a two-run homer and a three-run homer in the inning, blasts that put Dartmouth ahead, 5-3. Bracey ended the rally by striking out first baseman and cleanup hitter Michael Pagliarulo.

Bracey returned to the mound after Columbia scored three runs in the top of the sixth for a 6-5 lead. He gave up a single and a double and left the game with runners on second and third and nobody out. Henry Perkins struck out two and got an inning-ending groundout to preserve the lead.

Columbia scored another run in the seventh, and Perkins shut out the Big Green in the last three innings, enabling Columbia to celebrate a 7-5 triumph and its first Ivy baseball championship since 1977.

Bracey faced only three batters but was the winning pitcher. Perkins picked up his first save of the season.

Columbia (22-25) will play in the NCAA Regionals May 30-June 2. The NCAA selection show is scheduled for May 26 (Memorial Day) at 12:30.

Giusti’s a standout

His team isn’t doing so well, but Valparaiso second baseman John Giusti (Coventry) is having a solid senior season. He had three hits and an RBI in Valpo’s 13-6 victory over Cedarville on Tuesday, improving the Crusaders’ record to 18-30.

Giusti is hitting .397 with only a weekend series at Illinois Chicago remaining in the regular season. He has started 25 of the 30 games he has played and has eight doubles and 12 RBI. A second baseman, he has 90 assists and four errors.

Giusti is a four-year starter. He played shortstop for two years and moved to second base as a junior. The Valpo rookie of the year in 2005, he has appeared in 166 games in his career.

A sports management major, he made the Mid-Continent All-Academic team as a sophomore and junior and was named to the new Horizon League’s fall academic honor roll last semester.

The Horizon League in baseball consists of Wright State, UIC, Youngstown State, Cleveland State, Valparaiso, Milwaukee and Butler.

5 from CCRI honored

Five CCRI players earned All-Region 21 honors. Pitcher Warren Sternberg (North Kingstown) was 5-4 with a 2.94 ERA. Designated hitter/outfielder George Tager (North Providence) hit .453 with 14 doubles, 4 triples, 5 home runs and 37 RBI. Outfielder Luke Graham (Cumberland) hit .430 with 11 doubles and a home run. Shortstop Luis Chacon (West Warwick) hit .305. Catcher Anthony Dupre (Warwick) was the defensive player of the year.

Honor for Stenhouse

Bentley sophomore Garrett Stenhouse (Warwick/Pilgrim) is the All-Northeast-10 first-team first baseman. The Falcons’ initial first-team choice in six years, Stenhouse hit .278 with 32 RBI. His batting average improved 59 points from his freshman year.

mszostak@projo.com