May 22, 2012
SAN MARCOS, Texas - UT Arlington held its first and only workout at Bobcat Ballpark on Tuesday afternoon in preparation for the start of the Southland Conference Tournament.
The Mavericks enter the SLC Tournament with 32-23 record after going 19-14 in league play to earn the No. 4 seed. UTA opens the tourney Wednesday at 9 a.m. against No. 5 McNeese State (24-28).
Senior ace Lance Day is starting Game 1. Day went 10-3 during the regular season, with a 2.91 ERA, and earned second-team All-SLC honors.
The Mavericks' 19-14 conference record matched the school single-season record. UTA went 19-14 in 2010 and 19-13 in 2009.
The Mavericks are making their fourth SLC Tournament appearance in the last five years and 15th overall. The Mavericks are 24-26 all-time in the tourney. UTA captured tournament titles in 2001 and 2006.
UTA went 2-2 in its last trip to the tournament in 2010. The Mavericks' fourth seed is the highest under head coach Darin Thomas.
Southland Conference Tournament Info
After winning its first regular-season conference championship since 1989, Sam Houston State has earned the top seed in the 2012 Southland Conference Baseball Tournament at Bobcat Ballpark in San Marcos, Texas. The Bearkats claimed their second regular-season championship and enter the tournament with a 36-18 overall record to go with a 24-9 mark in league play. It was their first title since 1989.
Top-seeded Sam Houston State will open the tournament against No. 8 seed Texas A&M-Corpus Christi, which finished 23-31 overall and 13-19 in the Southland. The two will face off Wednesday at noon. The winner of that game will face off against the winner of the tournament's first game, which pits No. 4 seed UT Arlington vs. No. 5 seed McNeese State. The Mavericks finished in a third-place tie with Texas State, but lost the regular-season series against the Bobcats. UTA enters the tournament with a 32-23 overall record and was 19-14 in league play. The winners of the first two games advance to play Thursday at 4 p.m., while the losers will move into the losers' bracket and meet Thursday at 9 a.m.
The third game of the day is a rematch of last year's championship game. Tournament host Texas State will open its title defense Wednesday at 4 p.m. against No. 6 Stephen F. Austin. The No. 3 seeded Bobcats are 31-22 overall and were 19-14 in league action. The Lumberjacks were 24-28 overall and 17-16 in league play. Wednesday's final game, matching No. 2 seed Southeastern Louisiana with No. 7 seed Central Arkansas, is scheduled for 7 p.m. The Lions are 36-19 overall and were 20-13 in Southland contests, while qualified for its first Southland Conference tournament after posting an overall record of 25-28 and 16-17 in league games. The winners of Wednesday's two late games advance to play Thursday at 7 p.m. while the losers play Thursday at noon.
Tournament Format
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, June 1-4.
Tournament History
This marks the 26th 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. Texas State won its fourth tournament championship last year to go with titles in 1997, 1999 and 2000. The regular-season champion has won the tournament eight times though that has happened just three times since the tournament resumed in 1993, including last year by Texas State.
Ticket Information
Tickets for the event are available by calling either the Texas State athletics ticket office at 512-245-2272 or online at www.txstatebobcats.com/tickets. An all-tournament reserved pass is available for $50 for adults. Youth and general admission all-tournament passes are $45. Individual day tickets are available for $15 for adults and $12 for youth. Students at Southland institutions may get in free by showing a valid student ID card.
Tournament Coverage
The schedule of the double-elimination event has four games on Wednesday, Thursday and Friday. Two "if-necessary" games would be played Saturday before the championship game, which will be played at either 1 or 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 electronic media, and Greg Swindell, a 17-year MLB veteran. Every game of the tournament, which the exception of the title game, will be streamed live and for free on SLC NOW, which is available on the conference's website, Southland.org. Live stats will also be available at the same web address.
Winner Advances to NCAA Tournament
The winner of the Southland Conference tournament earns the league's automatic berth into the NCAA tournament. The field of 64 will be announced Monday at 11 a.m., CDT, on ESPNU. The tournament begins with regional play June 1-4 at campus sites. Super Regionals will be held June 8-11 and the College World Series will be June 15-26.
Team Tournament Capsules
No. 1 Sam Houston State
Sam Houston State won its first regular-season conference championship since 1989 and enter the tournament with a 36-18 overall record to go with a 24-9 mark in league play ... the Bearkats are making their 11th tournament appearance and their second in a row ... Sam Houston State is one of two teams that leads the league with four tournament titles ... the Bearkats won their first in 1996 and won three in a row between 2007 and 2009 ... the Bearkats are 24-11 with five appearances in the title game ... first-year skipper David Pierce was selected the Clay Gould Coach of the Year ... Sam Houston placed a conference-best five players on the all-conference team, including third baseman Kevin Miller and designated hitter Anthony Azar on the first tea, pitcher Caleb Smith on the second team and outfielder Jake Arrington and pitcher Michael Oros on the third team.
No. 2 Southeastern Louisiana
The Lions are 36-19 overall and were 20-13 in Southland contests ... Southeastern is making its fifth consecutive appearance and its seventh overall and is looking for its first trip to the championship game ... the Lions are 8-12 in the tournament ... Southeastern dominated the league awards this season with second baseman Brock Hebert taking home the player and hitter of the year awards, pitcher Stefan Lopez the relief pitcher of the year award and freshman Andro Cutura the freshman of the year award ... the Lions placed four players on the all-conference teams, including a league-high three first-team selections: Hebert, Lopez and first baseman Jonathan Pace ... outfielder Cody Gougler was a third-team pick ... Hebert led the team with a .388 batting average, 55 runs scored, 21 doubles and 36 stolen bases ... Lopez is tied for the national lead with 19 saves ... Dylan Hills paced the team with eight wins.
No. 3 Texas State
Defending tournament champion and tournament host Texas State is 31-22 overall and was 19-14 in league action ... the Bobcats are making their 17th all-time appearance in the tournament, which ties Northwestern State for the most in Southland history ... Texas State has qualified for the tournament every year since 1996, a 17-year stretch and won its fourth tournament title last year to go with titles in 1997, 1999 and 2000 ... Texas State became just the third team to win both the a regular-season and tournament title in the same year since 1993 ... pitcher Travis Ballew was named the conference's top pitcher and was one of two first-team all-conference selections alongside outfielder Jeff McVaney ... the Bobcats had five all-league picks with catcher Andrew Stumph and pitcher Colton Turner elected to the second team and first baseman Casey Kalenkosky to the third team.
No. 4 UT Arlington
The Mavericks finished in a third-place tie with Texas State ... UTA enters the tournament with a 32-23 overall record and was 19-14 in league play ... it is the 15th tournament appearance for the Mavericks, who are back in the tournament for the first time since 2010 ... UTA, which is 24-26 in the tournament, has won two titles, winning its first in 2001 and most recently in 2006 ... UTA placed three on the all-conference teams with outfielder Preston Beck earning first team honors and shortstop Ryan Walker and pitcher Lance Day earning second-team mention ... Beck led the Southland with his .575 slugging percentage and was fourth with a .443 on-base percentage ... he also led the league with 60 RBI and 11 home runs ... Day's 105.0 innings pitched and his 10 wins are the most in the league ... his 2.91 ERA was 10th ... Adam Boydston led the team with seven saves.
No. 5 McNeese State
McNeese State, which brings a 24-28 overall record into the tournament, finished 17-16 in Southland games to draw the No. 5 seed ... the Cowboys are making their first appearance since 2010 and their 11th overall ... the Cowboys won tournament titles in 1993 and 2003 and have a 13-15 tournament record with three appearances in the title game ... outfielder Seth Granger earned first-team all-conference honors and leads the team with a .338 batting average, which ranks eighth in the Southland ... Grangers leads the team with 69 hits, 13 doubles, four home runs and 102 total bases ... Michael Sullivan leads the team with 23 RBI ... Blake Ware leads the team with seven pitching victories and 52 strikeouts ... Trey McGee has a team-best 2.83 ERA ... the Cowboys ranked fifth in the Southland in team fielding (.966) and ninth in team pitching with a 4.59 ERA.
No. 6 Stephen F. Austin
The Lumberjacks are back in the tournament for the fifth time overall and the fourth consecutive season after going 24-28 overall and 17-16 in league play, which tied them for sixth with Central Arkansas ... the Lumberjacks held the tie-breaker by virtue of its 2-1 series win ... SFA won its first tournament game last year before dropping the championship game to Texas State ... the Lumberjacks are 4-8 all-time in the tournament ... SFA placed four players on the all-conference teams ... shortstop Hunter Dozier earned first-team honors, while second baseman Freddy Villalobos, catcher Jarid Scarafiotti and pitcher Alex Moshier earned third-team recognition ... Dozier was second in the league in slugging (.569) and ranked sixth with a .349 batting average ... Moshier was 5-0 with eight saves and a 1.44 ERA in 23 relief appearances ... Cameron Gann lead SFA with six wins.
No. 7 Central Arkansas
Central Arkansas qualified for its first Southland Conference tournament after posting an overall record of 25-28 and 16-17 in league games ... the Bears are led at the plate by Jonathan Davis, who is batting .333 with 51 hits, including 11 doubles and two triples ... UCA ranks second in the Southland Conference with a team batting average of .289 ... it ranks third in team fielding (.969), but ranked 10th in team pitching with a 5.31 ERA ... Ethan Harris leads the team with 46 RBI, which ranks second in the league ... Blake Roberts paces the Bears with seven home runs ... Forrestt Allday has a .492 on-base percentage, which is the best in the Southland ... he ranks second in the league with 49 runs scored ... Allday has drawn 55 walks, which is tops in the Southland ... catcher Travis Snider earned first-team all-conference honors while three other Bears earned second-team honors.
No. 8 Texas A&M-Corpus Christi
Texas A&M-Corpus Christi finished 23-31 overall and 13-19 in the Southland ... the Islanders were one of three teams to tie for eighth place in the conference standings, but owned the tie-breaker against Lamar and Northwestern State ... A&M-Corpus Christi is playing in its third tournament appearance overall and its second in a row ... it is 5-4 and will be trying to reach the tournament final for the first time ... pitcher Daniel Minor was named the league's newcomer of the year two Islanders selected for all-conference honors ... Minor earned first-team honors while designated hitter Jonathan Gonzales was named to the third team ... Minor was 9-3 with a 2.29 ERA in 15 appearances this season and was a four-time conference pitcher of the week ... struck out 14 vs. UTSA, which is the most by a Southland pitcher this season ... he struck out 10 or more batters four times.
