2017 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament
The 2017 Sun Belt Conference Baseball Tournament was held at J. I. Clements Stadium on the campus of Georgia Southern University in Statesboro, Georgia from May 24 to May 28, 2017, using a double-elimination format. The winner of the tournament earned the Sun Belt Conference's automatic bid to the 2017 NCAA Division I Baseball Tournament.[1][2]
| Teams | 10 |
|---|---|
| Format | Single-elimination |
| Finals site | |
| Champions | South Alabama (12th title) |
| Winning coach | Mark Calvi (1st title) |
| MVP | Brendan Donovan, South Alabama |
| Television | ESPN3 |
| 2017 Sun Belt Conference baseball standings | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
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| Conf | Overall | |||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Team | W | L | T | PCT | W | L | T | PCT | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| East Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Coastal Carolinax† | 22 | – | 7 | – | 1 | .750 | 37 | – | 19 | – | 1 | .658 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| No. 26 South Alabama‡y | 22 | – | 8 | – | 0 | .733 | 40 | – | 21 | – | 0 | .656 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia Southern | 18 | – | 12 | – | 0 | .600 | 38 | – | 21 | – | 0 | .644 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Troy | 16 | – | 14 | – | 0 | .533 | 31 | – | 25 | – | 0 | .554 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Georgia State | 10 | – | 20 | – | 0 | .333 | 22 | – | 33 | – | 0 | .400 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Appalachian State | 8 | – | 22 | – | 0 | .267 | 19 | – | 36 | – | 0 | .345 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| West Division | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| UT Arlingtonx | 20 | – | 10 | – | 0 | .667 | 30 | – | 25 | – | 0 | .545 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Lafayette | 19 | – | 10 | – | 1 | .650 | 35 | – | 21 | – | 1 | .623 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Arkansas State | 13 | – | 16 | – | 0 | .448 | 28 | – | 27 | – | 0 | .509 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Texas State | 13 | – | 17 | – | 0 | .433 | 29 | – | 30 | – | 0 | .492 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Little Rock | 11 | – | 18 | – | 0 | .379 | 21 | – | 34 | – | 0 | .382 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| Louisiana–Monroe | 6 | – | 24 | – | 0 | .200 | 12 | – | 43 | – | 0 | .218 | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
| x – Division champion † – Conference champion ‡ – Tournament champion y – Invited to the NCAA Tournament Rankings from Collegiate Baseball | ||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||||
Seeding
In a change from previous years, the seeding for the tournament was modified with the re-introduction of division play. The #1 seed would be the division winner with the best record, and the other division winner would be the #2 seed. This would reward each division winner for winning their division. Once the #1 seed is determined, the other division winner is automatically granted the #2 seed, even if that team's overall conference record isn't the second best. Seeds 3-10 are then assigned regardless of division based on conference winning percentage, with the bottom four seeds competing in a play-in round. The remaining eight teams will then play a two bracket, double-elimination tournament. The winner of each bracket will play a championship final.[3]
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Schedule
Due to poor field conditions and the threat of further inclement weather the first round of the tournament was postponed. Alternative sites and make-up schedules are being examined.[4] On May 24 the Sun Belt announced that the tournament would move to a single elimination format.[5]
| Game | Time* | Matchup# | Television | Attendance | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Thursday, May 25 | ||||||
| 1 | 3:00pm | No. 10 Georgia State vs. No. 7 Arkansas State | ESPN3 | |||
| 2 | 6:30pm | No. 9 Little Rock vs. No. 8 Texas State | ||||
| Friday, May 26 | ||||||
| 3 | 9:00am | No. 6 Troy vs. No. 3 South Alabama | ESPN3 | |||
| 4 | 12:30pm | No. 7 Arkansas State vs. No. 2 Texas-Arlington | ||||
| 5 | 4:00pm | Winner Game 2 vs. No. 1 Coastal Carolina | ||||
| 6 | 7:30pm | No. 5 Georgia Southern vs. No. 4 Louisiana-Lafayette | ||||
| Semifinals – Saturday, May 27 | ||||||
| 7 | 3:00pm | Winner Game 3 vs. Winner Game 4 | ESPN3 | |||
| 8 | 6:30pm | Winner Game 5 vs. Winner Game 6 | ||||
| Championship – Sunday, May 28 | ||||||
| 9 | 1:00pm | Winner Game 7 vs. Winner Game 8 | ESPN3 | |||
| *Game times in EDT. # – Rankings denote tournament seed. | ||||||
Bracket
Play-in round
The first two matchups of the tournament were single-elimination and were be held on Thursday May 25, 2017.
| Team | R |
|---|---|
| (10) Georgia State | 4 |
| (7) Arkansas State | 217 |
| Team | R |
|---|---|
| (9) Little Rock | 2 |
| (8) Texas State | 3 |
Single-elimination round
Coastal Carolina faced the team that won on the day before with the lowest seed with the other winner against Texas-Arlington. The tournament was originally scheduled to be a double elimination tournament. Due to weather and poor field conditions they had to make the tournament single elimination.
| Quarterfinals ESPN3 | Semifinals ESPN3 | Final ESPN3 | ||||||||||||
| 1 | Coastal Carolina | 5 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Texas State | 7 | ||||||||||||
| 8 | Texas State | 5 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Georgia Southern | 11 | ||||||||||||
| 4 | Louisiana–Lafayette | 6 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Georgia Southern | 711 | ||||||||||||
| 5 | Georgia Southern | 610 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | South Alabama | 7 | ||||||||||||
| 2 | Texas–Arlington | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Arkansas State | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | South Alabama | 4 | ||||||||||||
| 7 | Arkansas State | 2 | ||||||||||||
| 3 | South Alabama | 9 | ||||||||||||
| 6 | Troy | 1 | ||||||||||||
References
- "2016-17 Championships Schedule". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved January 13, 2017.
- "2017 Division I baseball conference tournaments, automatic qualifiers". NCAA. May 28, 2017. Retrieved September 2, 2017.
- "Sun Belt Announces Changes to Baseball Regular Season, Championship Format; Future Championship Sites Named". Sun Belt Conference. November 11, 2016. Retrieved January 15, 2016.
- "Poor field conditions cancel Tuesday's First Round at the Sun Belt baseball championship". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved May 23, 2017.
- "Updated Schedule for the Sun Belt Baseball Championship". Sun Belt Conference. Retrieved May 24, 2017.