2017 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament

The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament was held at J. I. Clements Stadium on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia from May 24 to May 28, 2017, using a double-elimination format. The winner of the tournament earned the Sun Belt Conference's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.[1][2]

2017 Sun Belt Conference
Baseball Tournament
Teams10
FormatSingle-elimination
Finals site
ChampionsSouth Alabama (12th title)
Winning coachMark Calvi (1st title)
MVPBrendan Donovan, South Alabama
TelevisionESPN3
2017 Sun Belt Conference baseball standings
Conf  Overall
TeamW L T PCT  W L T PCT
East Division
Coastal Carolinax  2271 .750  37191 .658
No. 26 South Alabamay   2280 .733  40210 .656
Georgia Southern   18120 .600  38210 .644
Troy   16140 .533  31250 .554
Georgia State   10200 .333  22330 .400
Appalachian State   8220 .267  19360 .345
West Division
UT Arlingtonx   20100 .667  30250 .545
Louisiana–Lafayette   19101 .650  35211 .623
Arkansas State   13160 .448  28270 .509
Texas State   13170 .433  29300 .492
Little Rock   11180 .379  21340 .382
Louisiana–Monroe   6240 .200  12430 .218
x Division champion
Conference champion
Tournament champion
y Invited to the NCAA Tournament
Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

Seeding

In a change from previous years, the seeding for the tournament was modified with the re-introduction of division play. The #1 seed would be the division winner with the best record, and the other division winner would be the #2 seed. This would reward each division winner for winning their division. Once the #1 seed is determined, the other division winner is automatically granted the #2 seed, even if that team's overall conference record isn't the second best. Seeds 3-10 are then assigned regardless of division based on conference winning percentage, with the bottom four seeds competing in a play-in round. The remaining eight teams will then play a two bracket, double-elimination tournament. The winner of each bracket will play a championship final.[3]

TeamW–LPctSeed
East Division
Coastal Carolina
22–7–1
.750
1
South Alabama
22–8
.733
3
Georgia Southern
18–12
.600
5
Troy
16–14
.533
6
Georgia State
10–20
.333
10
Appalachian State
8–22
.267
TeamW–LPctSeed
West Division
Texas-Arlington
20–10
.667
2
Louisiana–Lafayette
19–10–1
.650
4
Arkansas State
13–16
.448
7
Texas State
13–17
.433
8
Little Rock
11–18
.379
9
Louisiana–Monroe
6–24
.200

Schedule

Due to poor field conditions and the threat of further inclement weather the first round of the tournament was postponed. Alternative sites and make-up schedules are being examined.[4] On May 24 the Sun Belt announced that the tournament would move to a single elimination format.[5]

Game Time* Matchup# Television Attendance
Thursday, May 25
1 3:00pm No. 10 Georgia State vs. No. 7 Arkansas State ESPN3
2 6:30pm No. 9 Little Rock vs. No. 8 Texas State
Friday, May 26
3 9:00am No. 6 Troy vs. No. 3 South Alabama ESPN3
4 12:30pm No. 7 Arkansas State vs. No. 2 Texas-Arlington
5 4:00pm Winner Game 2 vs. No. 1 Coastal Carolina
6 7:30pm No. 5 Georgia Southern vs. No. 4 Louisiana-Lafayette
Semifinals – Saturday, May 27
7 3:00pm Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 ESPN3
8 6:30pm Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6
Championship – Sunday, May 28
9 1:00pm Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 ESPN3
*Game times in EDT. # – Rankings denote tournament seed.

Bracket

Play-in round

The first two matchups of the tournament were single-elimination and were be held on Thursday May 25, 2017.

Thursday, May 25
TeamR
(10) Georgia State4
(7) Arkansas State217
Thursday, May 25
TeamR
(9) Little Rock2
(8) Texas State3

Single-elimination round

Coastal Carolina faced the team that won on the day before with the lowest seed with the other winner against Texas-Arlington. The tournament was originally scheduled to be a double elimination tournament. Due to weather and poor field conditions they had to make the tournament single elimination.

Quarterfinals
ESPN3
Semifinals
ESPN3
Final
ESPN3
         
1 Coastal Carolina 5
8 Texas State 7
8 Texas State 5
5 Georgia Southern 11
4 Louisiana–Lafayette 6
5 Georgia Southern 711
5 Georgia Southern 610
3 South Alabama 7
2 Texas–Arlington 2
7 Arkansas State 4
3 South Alabama 4
7 Arkansas State 2
3 South Alabama 9
6 Troy 1

References

  1. "2016-17 Championships Schedule". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
  2. "2017 Division I baseball conference tournaments, automatic qualifiers". NCAA. May 28, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
  3. "Sun Belt Announces Changes to Baseball Regular Season, Championship Format; Future Championship Sites Named". Sun Belt Conference. November 11, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
  4. "Poor field conditions cancel Tuesday's First Round at the Sun Belt baseball championship". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
  5. "Updated Schedule for the Sun Belt Baseball Championship". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved May 24, 2017.
This article is issued from Wikipedia. The text is licensed under Creative Commons - Attribution - Sharealike. Additional terms may apply for the media files.