1998 Trans America Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament

The 1998 Trans America Athletic Conference Baseball Tournament was held at Osceola County Stadium in Kissimmee, Florida. This was the twentieth tournament championship held by the Trans America Athletic Conference. FIU won their second tournament championship and earned the conference's automatic bid to the 1998 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.[2]

1998 Trans America Athletic Conference
Baseball Tournament

Teams	6
Format	Double-elimination
Finals site	Osceola County Stadium Kissimmee, Florida
Champions	FIU (2nd title)
Winning coach	Danny Price (2nd title)
MVP	Edwin Franco, FIU

1998 Trans America Athletic Conference baseball standings
	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
South
FIU ^x‍†‍‡‍^y	15	–	5	–	0		.750			41	–	24	–	0		.631
UCF ‍‍‍	14	–	7	–	0		.667			41	–	21	–	0		.661
Stetson ‍‍‍	9	–	12	–	0		.429			30	–	31	–	1		.492
Florida Atlantic ‍‍‍	6	–	14	–	0		.300			29	–	30	–	0		.492
East
Georgia State ^x‍‍‍	11	–	9	–	0		.550			23	–	29	–	0		.442
College of Charleston ‍‍‍	10	–	11	–	0		.476			31	–	26	–	0		.544
Campbell ‍‍‍	10	–	11	–	0		.476			28	–	30	–	0		.483
Mercer ‍‍‍	7	–	13	–	0		.350			27	–	26	–	1		.509
West
Troy State ^x‍‍‍	13	–	7	–	0		.650			37	–	21	–	0		.638
Jacksonville State ‍‍‍	13	–	8	–	0		.619			34	–	20	–	0		.630
Centenary ‍‍‍	9	–	12	–	0		.429			21	–	36	–	0		.368
Samford ‍‍‍	6	–	14	–	0		.300			13	–	43	–	0		.232
x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 1998[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. College of Charleston was ineligible as it completed its transition from NAIA.

Team W L T Pct. Seed South FIU 36 22 0 .621 1 UCF 39 19 0 .672 3 Stetson 29 29 1 .500 5 Florida Atlantic 29 28 0 .509 6

Team W L T Pct. Seed East Georgia State 23 29 0 .442 — College of Charleston 31 26 0 .544 — Campbell 28 30 0 .483 — Mercer 27 26 1 .509 —

Team W L T Pct. Seed West Troy State 34 19 0 .642 2 Jacksonville State 34 18 0 .654 4 Centenary 21 36 0 .368 — Samford 13 43 0 .232 —

Bracket

	First round					Second round					Third round					Semi-finals					Finals
	1	FIU	9
	6	Florida Atlantic	8			1	FIU	3
						4	Jacksonville State	1
	3	UCF	5								1	FIU	3
	4	Jacksonville State	0								3	UCF	2
						3	UCF	5													1	FIU	9	—
						5	Stetson	3													2	Troy State	4	—
	2	Troy State	4													3	UCF	9
	5	Stetson	5^10								5	Stetson	3			2	Troy State	12
						2	Troy State	11			2	Troy State	8
						6	Florida Atlantic	6

All-Tournament Team

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

POS	Player	School
P	Edwin Franco	FIU
	Trey Wright	Troy
C	Jeff Rodriguez	FIU
IF	Fred Case	Troy
	Jason Vetter	FIU
	Dustin Brisson	UCF
	Tim Boeth	UCF
OF	Ned French	Stetson
	Ricky Rowe	Troy
	Sean Mahoney	FIU
	Jim Molina	FIU
DH	Jorge Soto	Troy

Most Valuable Player

Edwin Franco was named Tournament Most Valuable Player. Franco was a pitcher for FIU.[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 19, 2020.