1996 Northeast Conference baseball tournament

The 1996 Northeast Conference baseball tournament was held in May 1996 at Moody Park in Ewing Township, New Jersey. The league's top four teams competed in the double elimination tournament. Top-seeded Rider won their third consecutive, and final, tournament championship. They then lost a play-in series to Princeton for the right to play in the 1996 NCAA Division I baseball tournament.

1996 Northeast Conference
baseball tournament

Teams	4
Format	Double-elimination tournament
Finals site	Moody Park Ewing Township, NJ
Champions	Rider (3rd title)
Winning coach	Sonny Pittaro (3rd title)
MVP	Jim Gordon (Rider)

1996 Northeast Conference baseball standings

	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
Rider  ‍†‍‡‍	15	–	6	–	0		.714			28	–	22	–	0		.560
Monmouth  ‍†‍‍	15	–	6	–	0		.714			25	–	22	–	0		.532
St. Francis  ‍‍‍	12	–	8	–	0		.600			21	–	20	–	1		.512
Long Island  ‍‍‍	12	–	9	–	0		.571			21	–	19	–	0		.525
Fairleigh Dickinson  ‍‍‍	9	–	12	–	0		.429			16	–	23	–	0		.410
Wagner  ‍‍‍	8	–	12	–	0		.400			14	–	24	–	0		.368
Marist  ‍‍‍	8	–	13	–	0		.381			16	–	24	–	1		.402
Mount St. Mary's  ‍‍‍	4	–	17	–	0		.190			6	–	24	–	1		.210
† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

Seeding and format

The top four finishers were seeded one through four based on conference regular-season winning percentage. They played a double-elimination tournament.

Team	W	L	Pct	GB	Seed
Rider	15	6	.714	—	1
Monmouth	15	6	.714	—	2
St. Francis	12	8	.600	2.5	3
Long Island	12	9	.571	3	4
Fairleigh Dickinson	9	12	.429	6	—
Wagner	8	12	.400	6.5	—
Marist	8	13	.381	7	—
Mount St. Mary's	4	17	.190	11	—

Bracket

	First round					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Rider	3
	4	Long Island	2
						1	Rider	1
						3	St. Francis	0
	3	St. Francis	5
	2	Monmouth	2
											1	Rider
											4	Long Island
	Lower round 1					Lower final
						3	St. Francis	4
	4	Long Island	2			4	Long Island	9
	2	Monmouth	1

Most Valuable Player

Jim Gordon of Rider was named Tournament Most Valuable Player.