ROCK HILL, S.C. --- Tusculum College will be the No. 4 seed in this week's Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball Tournament, which begins Wednesday at McNair Field in Forest City, N.C.
The Pioneers (31-14 overall) will face third-seeded Lincoln Memorial University (28-20 overall) at 7:30 p.m. in the final game of day one action from McNair Field. Tusculum and LMU tied for third place with 16-11 league worksheets, but the Railsplitters swept last month's three-game series in Greeneville.
Catawba College, which won its seventh SAC Championship in school history, is the top seed for this week's six-team, double-elimination tournament.
The Catawba Indians (36-8) are the two-time defending tournament champions. Catawba is ranked seventh in the National Collegiate Baseball Writers Association Division II poll, and 15th by Collegiate Baseball. The Indians will face sixth-seed Newberry College (22-25) in the tournament's opening game at noon on Wednesday.
Wingate University (30-20) finished second in the league and will face fifth-seed Carson-Newman College (15-12) at 3:45 p.m. on Wednesday.
The top six teams in the conference earned berths to the Food Lion SAC Tournament. The bracket format follows the NCAA regional six-team bracket.
Tournament play continues with three games on Thursday with games at noon, 3:45 p.m. and 7:30 p.m. Three more games are set for Friday. The championship game will be played Saturday at 1 p.m., with a second game, if necessary, to follow.
The tournament champion will receive an automatic bid into the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.
Tusculum has captured the Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Tournament title on two previous occasions. TC won the 2005 title at Pioneer Park in Greeneville, becoming the first team to lose in its opening game and win six in a row to claim the championship. Tusculum captured its last SAC Tournament title in 2008 in Hickory, N.C., going a perfect 4-0. The Pioneers have advanced to the SAC Tournament Championship game in three of the last four seasons and five of the last eight years.
All-Tournament tickets will be available at the gate for $16 for adults and $8 for children and students. Fans showing their Food Lion MVP card can save $2 on the price of an adult All-Tournament ticket.
Daily ticket prices are $8 for adults and $4 for children and students. Fans showing their Food Lion MVP card can save $1 off the price of an adult ticket.
Food Lion is the title sponsor for all South Atlantic Conference championships.
- SAC -
Food Lion South Atlantic Conference Baseball
Tournament
McNair Field, Forest City, N.C.
Wednesday, April 20, 2011
Game 1: No. 1 Catawba vs. No. 6 Newberry, Noon
Game 2: No. 2 Wingate vs. No. 5 Carson-Newman, 3:45 p.m.
Game 3: No. 3 Lincoln Memorial vs. No. 4 Tusculum, 7:30
p.m.
Thursday, April 21, 2011
Game 4: Catawba / Newberry loser vs. Wingate / Carson-Newman loser,
Noon
Game 5: Catawba / Newberry winner vs. Lincoln Memorial / Tusculum
loser, 3:45 p.m.
Game 6: Wingate / Carson-Newman winner vs. Lincoln Memorial /
Tusculum winner, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, April 22, 2011
Game 7: Game 5 winner vs. Game 6 winner, Noon *
Game 8: Game 4 winner vs. Game 6 loser, 3:45 p.m. *
Game 9: Game 8 winner vs. Game 7 loser, 7:30 p.m. *
Saturday, April 23, 2011
Championship Game 10: Game 7 winner vs. Game 9 winner, 1 p.m. *
Game 11 (if necessary), Game 10 winner vs. Game 10 loser, 4
p.m.
* If five teams remain after Game 6, and two after Game 9 OR
if five teams remain after Game 6, and three after Game 9, then
alternate brackets will be used.
