Southland Conference Baseball Tournament
The Southland Conference Baseball Tournament is the conference championship tournament in baseball for the Southland Conference. The winner of the tournament receives the conference's automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.
| Southland Conference Baseball Tournament | |
|---|---|
| Conference Baseball Championship | |
| Sport | Baseball |
| Conference | Southland Conference |
| Number of teams | 8 |
| Format | Double-elimination tournament |
| Current stadium | Whataburger Field |
| Current location | Corpus Christi, Texas |
| Played | 1964–1968, 1993–present |
| Last contest | 2019 |
| Current champion | McNeese State (1) |
| Most championships | Sam Houston State (6) |
| Official website | Southland.org Baseball |
Tournament
The Southland Conference Baseball Tournament is an eight team double-elimination tournament held annually at various location in the Southland Conference region. The eight teams with the best conference record at the end of the regular season earn berths in the tournament. The winner receives an automatic bid to the NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament. The other teams have to hope for an at-large bid.
History
The Southland Conference tournament began in 1964. From 1964 through 1966 the tournament consisted of three teams. In 1967 and 1968 the tournament expanded to a four team double-elimination tournament. This was all that constituted conference play for those seasons.
From 1969 until 1992, the Southland Conference did not have a baseball tournament. In some seasons, a championship series was held between division champions.
In 1993, the conference began holding a baseball tournament again. From 1993 through 1995, the tournament was a four team double-elimination tournament.
In 1996, it expanded to become a six team double-elimination tournament and remained that way until 2007.
In 2008, the tournament once again expanded and became an eight team double-elimination tournament.
In 2012, two brackets of four teams were added in a double-elimination format. The winner of each bracket plays in a championship game. This facilitates a television broadcast of the final.
Champions
By year
| Year | School | Site | MVP |
|---|---|---|---|
| 1964 | Trinity | ACC Field • Abilene, Texas | |
| 1965 | Trinity | Jonesboro, Arkansas | |
| 1966 | Trinity | Turnpike Stadium • Arlington, Texas[1] | |
| 1967 | Arkansas State | Price Daniel Field • Beaumont, Texas[2] | |
| 1968 | Arkansas State | Arlington, Texas | |
| No tournament held (1969–1992) | |||
| 1993 | McNeese State | Brown–Stroud Field • Natchitoches, Louisiana | Clint Gould, McNeese State |
| 1994 | UTSA | Brown–Stroud Field • Natchitoches, Louisiana | Scott Pederson, UT San Antonio |
| 1995 | Louisiana–Monroe | Fair Grounds Field • Shreveport, Louisiana | Stacey Wilcox, Louisiana–Monroe |
| 1996 | Sam Houston State | Fair Grounds Field • Shreveport, Louisiana | Brent Bubela, Sam Houston State |
| 1997 | Texas State | Warhawk Field • Monroe, Louisiana | Jeremy Fikac, Texas State |
| 1998 | Nicholls State | Fair Grounds Field • Shreveport, Louisiana | Jacques Jobert, Nicholls State |
| 1999 | Texas State | Warhawk Field • Monroe, Louisiana | Matt Mize, UT Arlington |
| 2000 | Texas State | Warhawk Field • Monroe, Louisiana | Shane Webb, Louisiana-Monroe |
| 2001 | Texas–Arlington | Vincent–Beck Stadium • Beaumont, Texas | K. J. Hendricks, UT Arlington |
| 2002 | Lamar | Vincent–Beck Stadium • Beaumont, Texas | Clay Hensley, Lamar |
| 2003 | McNeese State | Warhawk Field • Monroe, Louisiana | Rusty Begnaud, McNeese State |
| 2004 | Lamar | Alumni Field • Hammond, Louisiana | Jordan Foster, Lamar |
| 2005 | UTSA | Brown–Stroud Field • Natchitoches, Louisiana | Ryan Crew, UT San Antonio |
| 2006 | Texas–Arlington | Vincent–Beck Stadium • Beaumont, Texas | Ryan Riddle, UT Arlington |
| 2007 | Sam Houston State | Brown–Stroud Field • Natchitoches, Louisiana | Luke Prihoda, Sam Houston State |
| 2008 | Sam Houston State | Don Sanders Stadium • Huntsville, Texas | Bobby Verbick, Sam Houston State |
| 2009 | Sam Houston State | Whataburger Field • Corpus Christi, Texas | Matt Shelton, Sam Houston State |
| 2010 | Lamar | Whataburger Field • Corpus Christi, Texas | Anthony Moore, Lamar |
| 2011 | Texas State | Bobcat Ballpark • San Marcos, Texas | Casey Kalenkosky, Texas State |
| 2012 | Texas–Arlington | Bobcat Ballpark • San Marcos, Texas | Travis Sibley, UT Arlington |
| 2013 | Central Arkansas | Constellation Field • Sugar Land, Texas | Forrestt Allday, Central Arkansas |
| 2014 | Southeastern Louisiana | Bear Stadium • Conway, Arkansas[3] | Tate Scioneaux, Southeastern Louisiana |
| 2015 | Houston Baptist | Constellation Field • Sugar Land, Texas[3] | Curtis Jones, Houston Baptist |
| 2016 | Sam Houston State | Constellation Field • Sugar Land, Texas[3] | Heath Donica, Sam Houston State |
| 2017 | Sam Houston State | Constellation Field • Sugar Land, Texas | Robie Rojas, Sam Houston State |
| 2018 | Northwestern State | Constellation Field • Sugar Land, Texas | David Fry, Northwestern State |
| 2019 | McNeese State[4] | Constellation Field • Sugar Land, Texas | Aidan Anderson, McNeese State |
| 2020 | Cancelled due to the coronavirus pandemic | ||
By school
Updated through 2019 Tournament.[5]
| School | Appearances | W-L | Pct | Tourney Titles | Title Years | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Sam Houston State | 16 | 36–21 | .632 | 6 | 1996, 2007, 2008, 2009, 2016, 2017 | |
| Texas State | 17 | 35–28 | .556 | 4 | 1997, 1999, 2000, 2011 | Left conference in 2012. |
| Lamar | 16 | 33–26 | .559 | 3 | 2002, 2004, 2010 | Left conference in 1987. Returned in 1999. |
| McNeese State | 17 | 20–27 | .426 | 3 | 1993, 2003, 2019 | |
| Trinity | 5 | 12–6 | .667 | 3 | 1964, 1965, 1966 | Left conference in 1972. |
| Texas–Arlington | 15 | 28–26 | .519 | 3 | 2001, 2006, 2012 | Left conference in 2012. |
| Arkansas State | 5 | 11–6 | .647 | 2 | 1967, 1968 | Left conference in 1987. |
| UTSA | 12 | 19–20 | .487 | 2 | 1994, 2005 | Left conference in 2012. |
| Central Arkansas | 6 | 13–10 | .565 | 1 | 2013 | Joined conference in 2006. |
| Houston Baptist | 3 | 10–4 | .714 | 1 | 2015 | Joined conference in 2013. |
| Louisiana–Monroe | 10 | 16–17 | .485 | 1 | 1995 | Left conference in 2006. |
| Nicholls State | 7 | 9–11 | .450 | 1 | 1998 | |
| Northwestern State | 20 | 26–38 | .406 | 1 | 2018 | |
| Southeastern Louisiana | 12 | 21–22 | .488 | 1 | 2014 | Joined conference in 1997. |
| Abilene Christian | 5 | 1–10 | .091 | 0 | Left conference in 1973. Returned in 2013. | |
| New Orleans | 2 | 4–4 | .500 | 0 | Joined conference in 2014. | |
| Oral Roberts | 1 | 2–2 | .500 | 0 | Conference member from 2012–2014. | |
| Stephen F. Austin | 7 | 7–14 | .333 | 0 | ||
| Texas A&M–Corpus Christi | 6 | 11–12 | .478 | 0 | Joined conference in 2006. |
- Italics indicate that the program is no longer a Southland member.
External links
References
- "Tiger Netters, Baseball Team Favored To Keep Southland Conference Titles". San Antonio Express. May 12, 1966. p. 3D.
- "Sports Festival Set Here May 11–13". John and Mary Gray Library – Lamar University (Digital Collection). The Redbird. May 5, 1967. Retrieved April 11, 2016.
The conference track meet will start at 2 p.m. Friday and the baseball tourney will get underway Thursday at 10 a.m. at Price Daniel Field
- "Southland Baseball Tournament Returns to Sugar Land". Southland Conference. August 22, 2013. Retrieved March 2, 2014.
- Richard Dean (May 25, 2019). "McNeese State wins Southland baseball tournament". Hearst Newspapers, LLC. Retrieved February 12, 2020.
- Southland Baseball (PDF). Southland Conference. pp. 29–33. Retrieved February 12, 2020.