2003 Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament

The 2003 Mid-American Conference Baseball Tournament took place in May 2003. The top six regular season finishers met in the double-elimination tournament held at Gene Michael Field on the campus of Kent State University in Kent, Ohio. This was the fifteenth Mid-American Conference postseason tournament to determine a champion. Fourth seed Eastern Michigan won their third tournament championship, and first since the event resumed in 1992, to earn the conference's automatic bid to the 2003 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.[2][3]

2003 Mid-American Conference
Baseball Tournament

Teams	6
Format	Double-elimination
Finals site	Gene Michael Field Kent, OH
Champions	Eastern Michigan (3rd title)
Winning coach	Roger Coryell (1st title)
MVP	Brian Bixler, Eastern Michigan

2003 Mid-American Conference baseball standings
	Conf									Overall
Team	W		L		T		PCT			W		L		T		PCT
East
Kent State  ^x‍‍‍	20	–	4	–	0		.833			38	–	18	–	0		.679
Miami  ‍‍‍	19	–	9	–	0		.679			36	–	24	–	1		.598
Ohio  ‍‍‍	15	–	11	–	0		.577			35	–	23	–	0		.603
Akron  ‍‍‍	12	–	15	–	0		.444			22	–	30	–	0		.423
Marshall  ‍‍‍	11	–	16	–	0		.407			22	–	31	–	1		.417
Buffalo  ‍‍‍	5	–	21	–	0		.192			16	–	37	–	0		.302
West
Ball State  ^x‍‍‍	17	–	10	–	0		.630			36	–	21	–	0		.632
Eastern Michigan  ‍‍‡‍^y	16	–	11	–	0		.593			33	–	28	–	0		.541
Northern Illinois  ‍‍‍	15	–	11	–	0		.577			34	–	24	–	0		.586
Western Michigan  ‍‍‍	16	–	12	–	0		.571			25	–	26	–	0		.490
Central Michigan  ‍‍‍	9	–	15	–	0		.375			25	–	28	–	0		.472
Bowling Green  ‍‍‍	9	–	18	–	0		.333			17	–	28	–	0		.378
Toledo  ‍‍‍	8	–	19	–	0		.296			22	–	29	–	0		.431
† – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament As of June 30, 2003[1]; Rankings from Collegiate Baseball

Seeding and format

The winner of each division claimed the top two seeds, while the next four finishers based on conference winning percentage only, regardless of division, participated in the tournament. The teams played double-elimination tournament. This was the sixth year of the six team tournament.

Team	W	L	PCT	GB	Seed
East Division
Kent State	20	4	.833	–	1
Miami	19	9	.679	3	3
Ohio	15	11	.577	6	5
Akron	12	15	.444	9.5	–
Marshall	11	16	.407	10.5	–
Buffalo	5	21	.192	16	–
West Division
Ball State	17	10	.630	–	2
Eastern Michigan	16	11	.593	1	4
Northern Illinois	15	11	.577	1.5	6
Western Michigan	16	12	.571	1.5	–
Central Michigan	9	15	.375	6.5	–
Bowling Green	9	18	.333	8	–
Toledo	8	19	.296	9	–

Results

	First round					Semifinals					Semi-					Finals
	1	Kent State	3
	6	Northern Illinois	4			6	Northern Illinois	4*
						4	Eastern Michigan	6*
											4	Eastern Michigan	7
											1	Kent State	4
						2	Ball State	2†
						1	Kent State	3†
	3	Miami	6													4	Eastern Michigan	3	6
	4	Eastern Michigan	4													3	Miami	2	5
						3	Miami	4
						5	Ohio	3
	2	Ball State	4								3	Miami	6
	5	Ohio	14								5	Ohio	0
						5	Ohio	9
						6	Northern Illinois	8

* - Indicates game required 12 innings. † - Indicates game required 10 innings.

All-Tournament Team

The following players were named to the All-Tournament Team.[4]

Name	School
Matt Long	Miami
Dale Hayes	Eastern Michigan
John Slone	Miami
Anthony Gressick	Ohio
Joe Tucker	Kent State
Joe Mazzuca	Northern Illinois
Brian Bixler	Eastern Michigan
Derrick Peterson	Eastern Michigan
Phil Sabatini	Ohio
David Cook	Miami

Most Valuable Player

Brian Bixler won the Tournament Most Valuable Player award. Bixler played for Eastern Michigan.[4]

References

1. "All-time Standings" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
2. "Mid-American Conference Tournament History" (PDF). Mid-American Conference. Archived from the original (PDF) on June 9, 2014. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
3. 2012 Record Book (PDF). Miami RedHawks. p. 11. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 1, 2012. Retrieved May 31, 2013.
4. "All-Tournament Teams & Tournament MVP's" (PDF). Mid-American Sports. Retrieved May 31, 2013.