AtL Sugar Land Space Cowboys

Sam Houston State Earns Top Seed in Southland Baseball Tournament

Published on May 19, 2013 under Atlantic League (AtL)
Sugar Land Space Cowboys News Release


FRISCO, Texas - Sam Houston State earned the top seed for the 2013 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament that gets underway Wednesday at Constellation Field in Sugar Land, Texas. The 7,500-seat Constellation Field is home to the Sugar Land Skeeters, a member of the Atlantic League of Professional Baseball, and opened in 2012.

The Bearkats swept Central Arkansas in the final conference series of the season to claim their second consecutive regular-season championship and its third overall. No. 27 Sam Houston won the Southland by three games, finishing league play with a 20-7 record to go along with a 36-18 overall record. The Bearkats are making their 12th tournament appearance and are 26-13 all-time in the event, which includes 13-consecutive wins that produced three tournament championships in 2007, 2008 and 2009. A win in this year's tournament would give the Bearkats a league-record fifth tournament title. Sam Houston will play No. 8 seed McNeese State Wednesday at 4 p.m.

McNeese State won the middle game of its final conference series against Southeastern Louisiana to break an eight-place tie with Nicholls State and then needed some help Saturday from Lamar against the Colonels after dropping the finale against the Lions. When Lamar defeated Nicholls in the final game of their series on Saturday, McNeese earned its second consecutive and 12th trip overall to the tournament. The Cowboys finished 10-17 in Southland play and bring a 23-29 overall record with them into the tournament.

The winner in the Sam Houston and McNeese game will play the winner between No. 4 seed Southeastern Louisiana and No. 5 seed Lamar, who will meet Wednesday at 7 p.m. Southeastern Louisiana was 16-11 in league play to go with a 33-22 overall record. The Lions are making their sixth consecutive tournament appearance and eighth all time. Last year, Southeastern reached the tournament championship game for the first time, but lost 13-4 to Texas-Arlington. Lamar earned the No. 5 seed after ending league action with a 15-12 record. The Cardinals are 36-18 overall and lead the field with their 14th overall appearance in the conference tournament. Lamar, which is back in the tournament for the first time since 2011, is 30-20 all-time in the tournament and has won three titles with its last title in 2010.

The winners of Wednesday's two late games advance to play Thursday at 7 p.m. while the losers play Thursday at noon.

The tournament gets underway with No. 6 seed Stephen F. Austin facing No. 3 seed Oral Roberts Wednesday at 9 a.m. The Golden Eagles are making their debut in the Southland tournament after winning the Summit League tournament each of the last 15 years. ORU is 23-30 overall and was 16-11 in its first Southland season. At 28-27 overall and 15-12 in league games, SFA is making its sixth overall tournament appearance and its fifth consecutive. The Lumberjacks made their only appearance in the championship game in 2011 and missed a return trip last year by just one game.

The winner of the ORU vs. SFA game will await the winner between No. 7 seed Central Arkansas and No. 2 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi. The Islanders secured their best tournament seeding in school history after going 17-10 in Southland games to go along with a 32-22 overall mark. A&M-Corpus Christi is in the tournament for the fourth time in school history and is making its third consecutive trip. Last year, the Islanders upset top-seeded Sam Houston in the first round. This year, they will meet Central Arkansas, which is making a return trip to the tournament after playing in its first last year.

The winners of Wednesday's two early games advance to play Thursday at 4 p.m. while the losers play Thursday at 9 a.m.

This marks the 27th year of the Southland Conference baseball tournament. It began in 1964 though no tournament was played between 1969 and 1992. Since it resumed in 1993, Sam Houston State and Texas State lead all conference teams with four tournament championships. The Bearkats won their first tournament title in 1996 and won three in a row from 2007 through 2009. The regular-season champion has won the tournament eight times though just three times since the tournament resumed in 1993. The last team to do that was Texas State, which won both the regular-season and tournament titles in 2011.

The tournament is set up in similar fashion to the NCAA College World Series in that there are two brackets with the winners meeting for the championship. Unlike in Omaha, the bracket winners of the Southland tournament meet in a single game to decide the championship. The winner of the Southland tournament is the league's automatic qualifier for the NCAA tournament, which begins with regional play, May 31-June 3.

The schedule of the double-elimination event has four games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Two "if-necessary" games are scheduled for Saturday before the championship game, which will be played at 5 p.m. and be available exclusively on ESPN3. The championship broadcast will be called by Chris Mycoskie, the Southland's director of television, and Greg Swindell, a 17-year MLB veteran. Every game of the tournament, which the exception of the title game, will be streamed live on the Southland Conference Digital Network, which includes Southland.org and the league's free mobile and tablet apps for iPhone and Android.

An all-tournament pass, which allows entry into all 15 possible games of the tournament, is $50. A single-day pass, which will include four games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday with a maximum of three games on Saturday, is $15 each day. Season ticket holders of the Sugar Land Skeeters will be eligible for a buy-one, get-one free ticket offer. Additionally, children 5 and under will be admitted free of charge, while students at Southland Conference institutions will also gain free admission with a valid student ID. Tickets will be available for purchase in person at the Constellation Field box office, by phone at 281-240-4487, ext. 300, and online at sugarlandskeeters.com. Online orders are subject to a $1 service charge per ticket.

The winner of the 2013 tournament receives an automatic qualification to the NCAA tournament. The selection show airs Monday, May 27 at 11 a.m., CDT, on ESPNU.

2013 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament Schedule

Wednesday, May 22

Game One: No. 6 Stephen F. Austin vs. No. 3 Oral Roberts, 9 a.m.

Game Two: No. 7 Central Arkansas vs. No. 2 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, Noon

Game Three: No. 8 McNeese St. vs. No. 1 Sam Houston St., 4 p.m.

Game Four: No. 5 Lamar vs. No. 4 Southeastern Louisiana, 7 p.m.

Thursday, May 23

Game Five: Loser Game 1 vs. Loser Game 2, 9 a.m.

Game Six: Loser Game 3 vs. Loser Game 4, Noon

Game Seven: Winner Game 1 vs. Winner Game 2, 4 p.m.

Game Eight: Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4, 7 p.m.

Friday, May 24

Game Nine: Loser Game 7 vs. Winner Game 5, 9 a.m.

Game 10: Loser Game 8 vs. Winner Game 6, Noon

Game 11: Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 9, 4 p.m.

Game 12: Winner Game 8 vs. Winner Game 10, 7 p.m.

Saturday, May 25

*#Game 13: Loser Game 11 vs. Winner Game 11, 9 a.m.

^#Game 14: Loser Game 12 vs. Winner Game 12, 1 p.m.

+Championship: Winner Game 13 vs. Winner Game 14, 1 or 5 p.m.

* Game 13 will be necessary if the winner of Game 9 also wins Game 11.

^ Game 14 will be necessary if the winner of Game 10 also wins Game 12.

# If only one of the two early games is necessary on Saturday, it will be played at 9 a.m., with the Championship Game starting at 1 p.m.

+ If both bracket winners are undefeated, the championship game will be played on Saturday at 1 p.m.

NOTE: There will be a minimum of 45 minutes between games on Wednesday and 30 minutes the remainder of the week with no game starting prior to its scheduled start time.

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