Three PBC Baseball Teams Advance to NCAA Tournament

INDIANAPOLIS, IND – Three Peach Belt Conference baseball teams learned Sunday night that their seasons will continue as the NCAA released the six-team Southeast Regional field from the national office. USC Aiken, the 2009 Peach Belt Conference Champions, will be the #1 seed for the regional and host the tournament at Roberto Hernandez Stadium. Francis Marion, who won the 2009 PBC Tournament on Sunday night in Aiken, is the #2 seed while Georgia College & State University is the #3 seed.

Catawba, Tusculum and Belmont Abbey round out the field.

USC Aiken will serve as the regional host for the first time since 1993. The Pacers claimed their first PBC regular-season Championship since that ’93 season in 2009 after going 18-9 in conference play. Currently ranked #2 in the nation, the Pacers are 39-17 overall and will make their fifth consecutive NCAA Tournament appearance. USCA reached the regional championship game in 2008 where they fell to eventual national champion Mt. Olive.

Francis Marion earned the PBC’s automatic bid to the NCAA field with their 4-1 win over North Georgia in the tournament championship game on Sunday night. The Patriots return to the NCAA Regional for the first time since 2006, when they won the event and made a trip to the Division II World Series. FMU is currently on a school-record 15-game winning streak and are 36-13-1 overall.

GCSU will make their third NCAA Tournament appearance in the last four years and their eighth overall. The Bobcats are ranked 17th nationally after going 37-17 during the regular season and finishing third in the conference standings with a 16-11 league record. GCSU hopes to make their second World Series appearance after winning the regional in 1995 and advancing to the national championship game. GCSU also hosted the regional in 2006.

The NCAA Division II Baseball Championship provides for eight regional sites - six sites will host six teams, the West region will host four teams and the South region will host eight teams. All regionals are double-elimination tournaments and will be played at on-campus sites May 14-18. The USC Aiken regional will run Thursday, May 14-Sunday, May 17.

Regional champions will advance to the double-elimination championship finals May 23-30 at the USA Baseball National Training Complex in Cary, N.C. The finals will be hosted by Mount Olive College and the town of Cary, N.C.

Southeast Regional Website