Southern Conference baseball tournament

Southern Conference baseball tournament
Conference baseball championship
Southern Conference logo
Sport	Baseball
Conference	Southern Conference
Number of teams	8
Format	Double-elimination
Current stadium	Fluor Field
Current location	Greenville, South Carolina
Played	1950–1953, 1984–present
Last contest	2023
Current champion	Samford (4)
Most championships	Western Carolina (10)
Official website	SoConSports.com Baseball

The Southern Conference baseball tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Southern Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament. The event is scheduled for the Tuesday through Saturday before Memorial Day each year, five days prior to the NCAA Regionals.^[1]

Tournament

The Southern Conference Baseball Tournament is held annually. Beginning in 2009, the top eight teams (eleven teams sponsor baseball in the conference) participated in a two-bracketed double-elimination tournament. The previous format included ten teams participating in the tournament with the lowest four seeds (#7–#10) competing in a single elimination first round. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I baseball tournament while the other teams must rely on an at-large bid.

History

The Southern Conference first held a baseball tournament in 1950.^[2] Maryland and Virginia Tech from the North division, and Clemson and Wake Forest from the South played the inaugural year in Greensboro, North Carolina,^[3] with Wake Forest defeating Maryland for the title. In 1951, Clemson, Duke, Maryland, and West Virginia met, with Duke defeating Clemson in the final.^[4] Duke repeated their title in 1952, over N.C. State, George Washington, and Richmond.^[5] Duke, George Washington, Maryland, and North Carolina participated in 1953, with Duke again the winner.^[6][7]

The tournament was renewed in 1984 as a four-team tournament. The tournament was held at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park in Charleston, South Carolina, from 1997 to 2008, and again in 2010 and 2011.

Champions

By year

Year[8]	Champion	Site	MVP[9]
1950	Wake Forest	Greensboro, North Carolina
1951	Duke	Greensboro, North Carolina	Bob Davis, Duke
1952	Duke	Devereux Meadow • Raleigh, North Carolina	Red Smith, Duke
1953	Duke	Devereux Meadow • Raleigh, North Carolina
1984	Appalachian State	Hennon Stadium • Cullowhee, North Carolina	Rusty Weaver, Appalachian State
1985	Western Carolina	Boone, North Carolina	Mike Carson, Western Carolina
1986	Western Carolina	Hennon Stadium • Cullowhee, North Carolina	David Hyatt, Western Carolina
1987	Western Carolina	Asheville, North Carolina	Clint Fairey, Western Carolina
1988	Western Carolina	Asheville, North Carolina	Keith LeClair, Western Carolina
1989	Western Carolina	Asheville, North Carolina	Paul Menhart, Western Carolina
1990	The Citadel	College Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Billy Baker, The Citadel
1991	Furman	College Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Brent Williams, Furman
1992	Western Carolina	College Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Joey Cox, Western Carolina
1993	Western Carolina	College Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Phillip Grundy, Western Carolina
1994	The Citadel	College Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Jermaine Shuler, The Citadel
1995	The Citadel	College Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Donald Morillo, The Citadel
1996	Georgia Southern	College Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Mark Hamlin, Georgia Southern
1997	Western Carolina	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	J. P. Burwell, Western Carolina
1998	The Citadel	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Brian Rogers, The Citadel
1999	The Citadel	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Rodney Hancock, The Citadel
2000	Georgia Southern	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Matt Easterday, Georgia Southern
2001	The Citadel	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Randy Corn, The Citadel
2002	Georgia Southern	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Brett Lewis, Georgia Southern
2003	Western Carolina	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Brian Sigmon, Western Carolina
2004	The Citadel	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Jonathan Ellis, The Citadel
2005	Furman	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Nick Hollstegge, Furman
2006	College of Charleston	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Nick Chigges & Jess Easterling, College of Charleston
2007	Wofford	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Brandon Waring, Wofford
2008	Elon	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Cory Harrilchak, Elon
2009	Georgia Southern	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Kyle Blackburn, Georgia Southern
2010	The Citadel	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Justin Mackert, The Citadel
2011	Georgia Southern	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Chris Beck, Georgia Southern
2012	Samford	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Josh Martin, Samford
2013	Elon	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Joe Jackson, The Citadel
2014	Georgia Southern	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Jason Richman, Georgia Southern
2015	Mercer	Riley Park • Charleston, South Carolina	Eric Nyquist, Mercer
2016	Western Carolina	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Matt Smith, Western Carolina
2017	UNC Greensboro	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Tripp Shelton, UNC Greensboro
2018	Samford	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Brooks Carlson, Samford
2019	Mercer	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Trevor Austin, Mercer
2020	Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic
2021	Samford	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Towns King, Samford
2022	UNC Greensboro	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina
2023	Samford	Fluor Field • Greenville, South Carolina	Heath Clevenger, Samford

By school

School	Tournament Titles	Years
Western Carolina	10	1985, 1986, 1987, 1988, 1989, 1992, 1993, 1997, 2003, 2016
The Citadel	8	1990, 1994, 1995, 1998, 1999, 2001, 2004, 2010
Georgia Southern	6	1996, 2000, 2002, 2009, 2011, 2014
Samford	4	2012, 2018, 2021, 2023
Duke	3	1951, 1952, 1953
UNC Greensboro	2	2017, 2022
Mercer	2	2015, 2019
Elon	2	2008, 2013
Furman	2	1991, 2005
Wake Forest	1	1950
Appalachian State	1	1984
College of Charleston[a]	1	2006
Wofford	1	2007

• Italics indicate the school no longer sponsors baseball in the SoCon.

1. Now athletically branded as Charleston.

Composite Records

Current schools only, 1984 through 2015^[10][11]

Team	Wins	Losses	Pct.
The Citadel	72	37	.661
East Tennessee State	14	34	.286
Furman	39	41	.488
Mercer	4	0	1.000
Samford	14	8	.636
UNC Greensboro	19	27	.413
VMI	14	29	.326
Western Carolina	67	48	.583
Wofford	12	10	.545

See also

• List of Southern Conference football champions
• List of Southern Conference men's basketball champions

References

1. "Southern Conference Championship Sites and Dates" (PDF). soconsports.com. Retrieved December 15, 2012.
2. "Southern Champs To Be Crowned At Greensboro Meet". The Robesonian. Lumberton, N.C. AP. May 19, 1950. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
3. "Maryland To Play In Diamond Series". The Baltimore Sun. May 22, 1950. p. 14. Virginia Tech and Maryland from the North and Wake Forest and Clemson from the South will meet to determine the Southern Conference baseball championship.
4. "Clemson Meets Duke For Southern League Title". The Dispatch. Lexington, N.C. May 21, 1951. p. 6. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
5. "Duke Nine Cops Conference Championship". The News and Courier. Charleston, S.C. May 19, 1952. p. 6. Retrieved August 27, 2011.^{[permanent dead link‍]}
6. "Maryland Nine Whips W. & M. In Double-Header". The Baltimore Sun. May 12, 1953. p. 19. George Washington will join Maryland as the Northern division's other representative against the two top teams in the southern branch of the league.
7. "Rain-Check Team Emerging As Top Quality In Playoff". The Robesonian. Lumberton, N.C. May 19, 1953. p. 8. Retrieved August 27, 2011.
8. "Championship Results" (PDF). 2007 Southern Conference Baseball. Southern Conference. 2007. pp. 43–47. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
9. "SoCon Tournament MVPs" (PDF). 2006 Southern Conference Baseball. Southern Conference. 2006. p. 16. Retrieved February 2, 2009.
10. 2014 SoCon Baseball media Guide. Southern Conference. 14 February 2014. p. 48. Retrieved October 20, 2014.
11. "2014 Southern Conference Baseball Championship" (PDF). Archived from the original (PDF) on 2016-03-04.