SPARTANBURG, S.C. - Three Southern Conference baseball teams have been chosen to participate in the NCAA Baseball Championship, it was announced on Monday afternoon. Samford, which advanced to the NCAA postseason for the first time after claiming the league's automatic bid on Sunday, was joined in the postseason by regular season co-champions Appalachian State and College of Charleston.
Samford (39-21, 19-11) opens NCAA Tournament play on Friday in Tallahassee, Fla., as the No. 3 seed, facing second-seeded Mississippi State from the Southeastern Conference. The Bulldogs powered their way to a SoCon Tournament title in Greenville, S.C., with a 9-6, 10-inning victory over Georgia Southern on Sunday. The Bulldogs averaged 10 runs per game in the tournament and boast both the nation's home run leader in Brandon Miller along with the country's wins leader in Josh Martin. Joining Samford in Tallahassee is host Florida State and fourth-seeded, and crosstown rival, UAB.
Appalachian State (39-16, 21-9) won a share of the Southern Conference championship for the first time since 1987 and has advanced to the NCAA Tournament for the first time since 1986. The Mountaineers head to Charlottesville, Va., where they are seeded third and will battle No. 2 seed Oklahoma on Friday in round one. ASU, which boasted the best overall record in the conference and a series win at No. 7 national seed LSU, is joined in Charlottesville by No. 1 seed Virginia and No. 4 seed Army.
College of Charleston (37-20, 21-9) was rewarded with its fifth NCAA Regional trip since joining the SoCon, on the strength of a shared regular season championship. The Cougars, seeded third in their regional, head to Gainesville, Fla., where they face No. 2 seed Georgia Tech on Friday. Host Florida is the top seed and will take on No. 4 seed Bethune-Cookman in game one. College of Charleston last reached the NCAA Tournament in 2010, and the Cougars were the last team to advance from the regional stage, winning the Lexington Regional in 2006 before falling to Georgia Tech in the Super Regional round.
This marks the seventh time in the past nine seasons that the Southern Conference has sent multiple teams to the NCAA Tournament, and it equals 2010 for the most from the SoCon in league history. The league's three bids ties for the fifth-highest among conferences, trailing only the ACC, SEC, Pac-12 and Big XII.
The 16 winners of this weekend's regional will advance to the Super Regionals next weekend with the winners of those three-game series earning a spot in the College World Series in Omaha, Neb.
Game times for the regionals will be announced later this week.