INDIANAPOLIS --- The Tusculum College baseball team is listed second in this week's NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings.
The latest region rankings were released on Wednesday by the Southeast Region selection committee. The rankings are used to determine the region participants from the Southeast Region for the 2012 NCAA Division II Baseball Championship.
Mount Olive is the new top-ranked team in the poll, as the Trojans jumped two spots from last week's No. 3 ranking. Tusculum remains second, while last week's No. 1 team Armstrong, dropped two spots to third. Francis Marion is fourth once again, while USC Aiken and Catawba traded spots as the Pacers are fifth, while the Indians are sixth. Lander and Georgia College round out the poll and are listed seventh and eighth, respectively.
Six teams from the Southeast Region will receive an invitation to the NCAA Division II Baseball Championship. An automatic bid is given to the winner of the South Atlantic Conference, Conference Carolinas and the Peach Belt Conference. The next three highest ranked teams will earn an at-large berth into the national tournament.
Tusculum (46-8) has already secured the automatic berth for the South Atlantic Conference, by winning last month's Food Lion SAC Tournament. The Pioneers are nationally ranked in the top four in numerous publications, including No. 4 in the Collegiate Baseball Newspaper Division II Coaches' Poll. TC's 46 wins are the most in the nation and the second most in school history.
Mount Olive has clinched the second automatic bid by capturing the Conference Carolinas Tournament title last weekend.
The Tusculum Pioneers ended the regular season by winning 10 of their last 11 games.
The eight-region, 48-team bracket will be announced by the NCAA on May 13 with regional play being held at campus sites May 17-20. The eight regional champions will advance to Cary, N.C. for the Division II College World Series from May 26-June 2.
- NCAA -
NCAA Division II Southeast Region Poll
Rk Team Overall In-Region Prv
1 Mount Olive 42-7 42-5 3
2 TUSCULUM 46-8 44-7 2
3 Armstrong 36-12 28-11 1
4 Francis Marion 33-14 31-14 4
5 USC Aiken 33-16 32-16 6
6 Catawba 39-14 39-14 5
7 Lander 33-16 33-16 7
8 Georgia College 29-19 29-19 8
NCAA Division II Baseball Region Rankings: http://www.ncaa.com/rankings/baseball/d2
