INDIANAPOLIS --- The Tusculum College baseball team is listed eighth in the first edition of the 2016 NCAA Division II Southeast Region rankings.

Tusculum (32-15) is one of three South Atlantic Conference teams listed in the poll. TC finished tied for second place in the final SAC standings and are the No. 3 seed in this weekend's Pilot/Flying J SAC Baseball Tournament.

Lander is the top ranked team in the region poll, followed by Columbus State, Belmont Abbey, USC Aiken, Erskine, Newberry, Catawba, Tusculum and Augusta.

Tusculum owns a 3-3 record against teams listed in this week's Southeast Region rankings. Tusculum went 1-2 in its three-game series against Catawba, while the Pioneers posted a 2-1 record in its series at Newberry earlier this month.

TC has a 4-0 worksheet against teams who are ranked in other regional polls, including Kentucky Wesleyan (2-0), 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 next month.

Tusculum will face Lincoln Memorial on Friday night to open South Atlantic Conference Tournament play. The contest is slated to start at 7:30 p.m. at Smokies Stadium in Kodak, Tennessee.

- NCAA -

NCAA II Southeast Region Rankings
Rk Team
1 Lander
2 Columbus State
3 Belmont Abbey
4 USC Aiken
5 Erskine
6 Newberry
7 Catawba
8 TUSCULUM
9 Augusta