2014 Southern Conference baseball tournament
The 2014 Southern Conference baseball tournament was held from May 20 through 25 at Joseph P. Riley Jr. Park in Charleston, South Carolina. The annual event determined the conference champion of the Division I Southern Conference in college baseball. Georgia Southern won the tournament for the sixth time, earning the league's automatic bid to the 2014 NCAA Division I baseball tournament. This is the last of 18 athletic championships held by the conference in the 2013–14 academic year.[2]
 2014 SoCon Baseball Tournament | |
| Teams | 10 |
|---|---|
| Format | two bracket Double-elimination tournament with championship game |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | Georgia Southern (6th title) |
| Winning coach | Rodney Hennon (5th title) |
| MVP | Jason Richman (Georgia Southern) |
| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Team | W | L | PCT | W | L | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Western Carolina † | 20 | – | 6 | .769 | 37 | – | 18 | .673 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Davidson | 17 | – | 8 | .680 | 29 | – | 19 | .604 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern ‡y | 15 | – | 12 | .556 | 40 | – | 23 | .635 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Samford | 15 | – | 12 | .556 | 35 | – | 25 | .583 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Wofford | 12 | – | 14 | .462 | 32 | – | 28 | .533 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appalachian State | 12 | – | 14 | .462 | 21 | – | 34 | .382 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Elon | 12 | – | 15 | .444 | 27 | – | 26 | .509 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Furman | 11 | – | 15 | .423 | 26 | – | 32 | .448 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UNC Greensboro | 8 | – | 16 | .333 | 21 | – | 28 | .429 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| The Citadel | 8 | – | 18 | .308 | 24 | – | 34 | .414 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA tournament As of June 30, 2014[1] Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
The tournament was originally held from 1950–53, when the Southern Conference was a large conference composed of several small schools and several large schools, the latter of which would form the Atlantic Coast Conference after the 1953 season. The event was re-established in 1984 and has been held every year since. Western Carolina has claimed nine championships, the most of any school, with The Citadel close behind at eight tournament wins. Georgia Southern and Furman are the only other schools with multiple championships, winning five and two, respectively. Davidson and UNC Greensboro are the only current members to never win a title.
The tournament returned to Charleston for the first time since 2011 after spending the previous two seasons in Greenville, South Carolina. Charleston has hosted the event more than any other city.[3]
Seeding and format
All ten teams will participate in the tournament, with the bottom four seeds playing a single-elimination play-in round. The remaining teams will then be divided into two brackets and play double-elimination tournaments. The winners of each bracket will play a single championship game.[4][5]
| Team | W | L | Pct | GB | Seed |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Western Carolina | 20 | 6 | .769 | – | 1 |
| Davidson | 17 | 8 | .680 | 2.5 | 2 |
| Samford | 15 | 12 | .556 | 5.5 | 3 |
| Georgia Southern | 15 | 12 | .556 | 5.5 | 4 |
| Appalachian State | 12 | 14 | .462 | 8 | 5 |
| Wofford | 12 | 14 | .462 | 8 | 6 |
| Elon | 12 | 15 | .444 | 8.5 | 7 |
| Furman | 11 | 15 | .423 | 9 | 8 |
| UNC Greensboro | 8 | 16 | .333 | 11 | 9 |
| The Citadel | 8 | 18 | .308 | 12 | 10 |
Bracket
Play-In Round
| Team | R |
|---|---|
| #10 The Citadel | 10 |
| #7 Elon | 7 |
| Team | R | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| #9 UNC Greensboro | 5 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| #8 Furman | 6 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Notes: 11 innings | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Bracket One
| First round | Second round | Semifinals | |||||||||||
| 1 | Western Carolina | 2 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Furman | 3 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Furman | 3 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Appalachian State | 1 | |||||||||||
| 4 | Georgia Southern | 2 | |||||||||||
| 5 | Appalachian State | 3 | |||||||||||
| 8 | Furman | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Georgia Southern | ||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Georgia Southern | 2 | |||||||||||
| 1 | Western Carolina | 4 | 5 | Appalachian State | 1 | ||||||||
| 4 | Georgia Southern | 8 | |||||||||||
Bracket Two
| First round | Second round | Semifinals | |||||||||||
| 2 | Davidson | 9 | |||||||||||
| 10 | The Citadel | 7 | |||||||||||
| 2 | Davidson | 3 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Samford | 7 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Samford | 4 | |||||||||||
| 6 | Wofford | 2 | |||||||||||
| 3 | Samford | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Wofford | ||||||||||||
| Lower round 1 | Lower final | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Davidson | 7 | |||||||||||
| 10 | The Citadel | 2 | 6 | Wofford | 10 | ||||||||
| 6 | Wofford | 4 | |||||||||||
Final
| Team | R |
|---|---|
| Samford | 3 |
| Georgia Southern | 4 |
All-Tournament Team
The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team. Georgia Southern reliever Jason Richman, one of four Eagles selected, was named Most Outstanding Player.
| Pos. | Name | Team |
|---|---|---|
| SP | Jeffrey Springs | Appalachian State |
| SP | Alex Ledford | Samford |
| RP | Jason Richman | Georgia Southern |
| C | Daniel Gerow | Davidson |
| 1B | Caleb Bryson | Samford |
| 2B | Ben Morgan | Georgia Southern |
| SS | Dalton Busby | Georgia Southern |
| 3B | Michael Pierson | Appalachian State |
| OF | Jake Jones | Furman |
| OF | Aaron Mizell | Georgia Southern |
| OF | Heath Quinn | Samford |
| DH | Alex Abrams | Furman |
References
- "Baseball standings". SoConSports.com. Retrieved November 19, 2014.
- "2013-14 Southern Conference Championship Schedule". soconsports.com. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- "2014 Baseball Championship". Southern Conference. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- Jeff Hartsell (February 19, 2013). "With CofC gone, SoCon to use SEC baseball tourney format in 2014". Post and Courier. Charleston, SC. Archived from the original on January 15, 2014. Retrieved January 15, 2014.
- "2014 Southern Conference Baseball Championship Bracket" (PDF). Southern Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 15, 2014. Retrieved May 14, 2014.