1996 Trans America Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament

The 1996 Trans America Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Conrad Park on the campus of Stetson in DeLand, Florida. This was the eighteenth tournament championship held by the Trans America Athletic Conference. UCF won their third tournament championship in four years, and second of three in a row, and earned the conference's automatic bid to the 1996 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.[2]

1996 Trans America Athletic Conference
Baseball Tournament

Teams	6
Format	Double-elimination
Finals site	Conrad Park DeLand, Florida
Champions	UCF (3rd title)
Winning coach	Jay Bergman (3rd title)
MVP	Nick Presto, Florida Atlantic

1996 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball standings
	Conf							Overall
Team	W		L		PCT			W		L		PCT
South
No. 22 Stetson ^x‍†‍‍^y	12	–	6		.667			42	–	23		.646
UCF ‍‍‡‍^y	9	–	9		.500			43	–	22		.662
Florida Atlantic ‍‍‍	9	–	9		.500			39	–	23		.629
FIU ‍‍‍	6	–	12		.333			35	–	24		.593
East
Georgia State ^x‍†‍‍	12	–	6		.667			21	–	32		.396
Campbell ‍‍‍	9	–	9		.500			23	–	33		.411
College of Charleston ‍‍‍	8	–	10		.444			28	–	23		.549
Mercer ‍‍‍	7	–	11		.389			25	–	30		.455
West
Jacksonville State ^x‍†‍‍	12	–	6		.667			33	–	18		.647
Southeastern Louisiana ‍‍‍	11	–	7		.611			34	–	24		.586
Centenary ‍‍‍	7	–	11		.389			23	–	34		.404
Samford ‍‍‍	6	–	12		.333			22	–	34		.393
x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1996[1]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

Format and seeding

The top six finishers by overall winning percentage qualified for the tournament, with the top seed playing the lowest seed in the first round.

Team W L Pct. Seed South Stetson 39 19 .672 1 UCF 38 20 .655 4 Florida Atlantic 36 21 .632 5 FIU 34 22 .607 6

Team W L Pct. Seed East Georgia State 21 32 .396 — Campbell 23 33 .411 — College of Charleston 28 23 .549 — Mercer 25 30 .455 —

Team W L Pct. Seed West Jacksonville State 33 16 .673 2 Southeastern Louisiana 34 22 .607 3 Centenary 23 34 .404 — Samford 22 34 .393 —

Bracket

	First round					Second round					Third round					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	Stetson	5
	6	FIU	3			1	Stetson	13
						3	Southeastern Louisiana	9
	3	Southeastern Louisiana	1								1	Stetson	3
	4	UCF	2								4	UCF	6
						4	UCF	3													3	UCF	6	—
						5	Florida Atlantic	1													5	Florida Atlantic	2	—
	2	Jacksonville State	7													1	Stetson	5
	5	Florida Atlantic	11								5	Florida Atlantic	4^10			5	Florida Atlantic	8
						6	FIU	10			6	FIU	3
						2	Jacksonville State	8

All-Tournament Team

The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[2]

POS	Player	School
P	Marco Ramirez	UCF
	Mike Lyons	Stetson
C	Brad King	UCF
IF	Brooks Stephens	Stetson
	Mike Garner	Jacksonville State
	Kevin Connacher	Florida Atlantic
	Garry Kamphouse	Florida Atlantic
	Nick Presto	Florida Atlantic
	Bryan Bruce	UCF
OF	Clint Hendry	Stetson
	Sean Mahoney	FIU
	Rich Ozarowski	Florida Atlantic
DH	Scott Loubier	UCF

Most Valuable Player

Nick Presto was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Presto was an infielder for Florida Atlantic.[2]

References

1. Atlantic Sun Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. p. 5. Retrieved July 17, 2019.
2. Baseball Record Book (PDF). Atlantic Sun Conference. Retrieved January 16, 2020.