INDIANAPOLIS --- The Tusculum College baseball team has jumped two spots and is ranked sixth in this week's NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings.

Tusculum (36-16) posted a 4-1 record at the 2016 Pilot/Flying J South Atlantic Conference Tournament last weekend to claim a share of the program's fourth SAC postseason crown. TC has rattled off three straight victories, including Monday's 6-5 decision over Catawba, who also earned a share of the SAC title as the double-elimination tournament was stopped due to unplayable field conditions.

Lander is the top-ranked team in the Southeast Region, while Columbus State, Belmont Abbey and USC Aiken hold down the top-four spots in the poll for a consecutive week. Like the Pioneers, Catawba jumped two spots and is listed fifth. Tusculum is sixth, followed by Erskine, Georgia College and Newberry.

Tusculum owns a 4-3 record against teams listed in this week's Southeast Region poll. Tusculum is 2-2 against Catawba this year, while the Pioneers posted a 2-1 record in its series at Newberry last month.

TC also has a 3-1 worksheet against teams who are ranked in other regional polls, including Trevecca Nazarene (1-1), Nova Southeastern (1-0) and Lynn (1-0).

The regional ranking is used for selecting the seven-team Southeast Region Tournament, which will be held at a campus site, yet to be determined. Tournament champions of the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas and Peach Belt Conference will receive automatic berths to the NCAA postseason.
Four at-large bids will also be awarded to comprise the seven-team regional, which will be held May 19-22.

Mount Olive (Conference Carolinas) and Catawba (SAC) have already claimed the automatic bids for their respective leagues. Mount Olive won last weekend's Conference Carolinas Tournament. Catawba tied Tusculum for the SAC Tournament title, but the Catawba Indians earn the league's bid by virtue of winning the regular season title.

The official announcement of the NCAA Championship field will be made Sunday, May 15 at 10 p.m. (EST) at NCAA.com.

- NCAA -

NCAA II Southeast Region Baseball Rankings
Rk Team Overall In-Region Prv
1 Lander 35-12 35-12 1
2 Columbus St. 37-11 33-11 2
3 Belmont Abbey 36-13-1 36-13-1 3
4 USC Aiken 35-14 35-14 4
5 Catawba 34-17 34-17 7
6 TUSCULUM 36-16 36-16 8
7 Erskine 36-15 29-14 5
8 Georgia College 30-16 29-16 NR
9 Newberry 33-19-1 30-19-1 6

Tusculum Opponents in Italics