Three PBC Baseball Teams Advance to NCAA Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS, IND – Three Peach Belt Conference baseball teams learned that they are advancing to the NCAA South Atlantic Regional as the full 48-team field was announced by the NCAA late Sunday night. North Georgia received the league’s automatic bid after their stirring win over Francis Marion 10-8 in the PBC Championship game earlier in the day. Columbus State and USC Aiken received at-large bids to the regional. The regional will be played in Mount Olive, N.C. and hosted by Mt. Olive.

Columbus State makes its third consecutive appearance in regional play and its fifth appearance in the last seven years and will be the #2 seed in Mt. Olive. CSU won the South Atlantic Region title in 2002 and went on to win the Division II national championship that season. They returned to the regional in 2004 and won the title again, earning a trip to Montgomery. CSU started its current string of three straight in 2006, losing two games in the regional and then returning to Montgomery last year after defeating host Mt. Olive for the region title. CSU finished as D-II runners-up last season, falling to Tampa in the championship game.

USC Aiken will make their fourth straight trip to the NCAA regional and will be the #3 seed at Mt. Olive. The Pacers reached the semifinal round of the PBC Tournament before being ousted by Francis Marion. Currently 44-15 on the year, the Pacers reached the semifinals of the 2006 NCAA Regional and won a game in the 2007 regional before suffering two losses. USCA has made six overall trips to the NCAA Tournament.

In a season full of firsts, North Georgia will plow straight ahead as they make their NCAA Tournament debut. Already, the Saints appeared in and won their first PBC Tournament after the school reached full NCAA Division II status for the 2007-08 academic year. The Saints are also one of the hottest teams heading into the regional after winning 23 of 26 games since April 1 and becoming the first team to sweep the PBC Tournament since the conference adapted its current bracket in 2006. North Georgia will be the #4 seed in the regional and face USC Aiken in their first game.

The four at-large bids were split equally between Conference Carolinas and the Peach Belt Conference. Belmont Abbey (40-20) is making its second tournament appearance and first since 2001. The Crusaders were Conference Carolinas Tournament runners-up. Nationally 19th-ranked Erskine (44-11) is making its first-ever NCAA Tournament appearance. The Flying Fleet finished second in the Conference Carolinas regular season standings. This year marks the first time Conference Carolinas has had more than one team in the regional.

The six-team double-elimination regional will take place Thursday through Sunday at Scarborough Field with the winner of the South Atlantic Regional joining the other seven regional champions at the national finals May 24-31 at Sauget, Ill.

Tickets are $10 per day for adults and $5 per day for students with ID. Four-day all-session passes are available for $35 for adults and $15 for students.

Below is the schedule for the 2008 NCAA II South Atlantic Regional (the format is the same as the bracket for the PBC Tournament:

Thursday, May 15, 2008*
11 a.m. Game 3: No. 3 USC Aiken vs. No. 4 North Georgia
3 p.m. Game 2: No. 2 Columbus State vs. No. 5 Belmont Abbey
7 p.m. Game 1: No. 1 Mount Olive vs. No. 6 Erskine
*Game times adjusted to allow regional host to play in 7 p.m. game

Friday, May 16, 2008
11 a.m. Game 4: Loser game 1 vs. Loser game 2
3 p.m. Game 5: Winner game 1 vs. Loser game 3
7 p.m. Game 6: Winner game 2 vs. Winner game 3

Saturday, May 17, 2008*
11 a.m. Game 7: Winner game 5 vs. Winner game 6
3 p.m. Game 8: Winner game 4 vs. Loser game 6
7 p.m. Game 9: Winner game 8 vs. Loser game 7
*Pairings will be adjusted if five teams remain after Game 6

Sunday, May 18, 2008*
1 p.m. Game 10: Winner game 7 vs. Winner game 9
5 p.m. Game 11: If necessary (same teams as Game 10)
*Pairings will be adjusted if three teams remain after Game 9